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

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I don’t know but my mom is working on MSR for CSP and met the spend around 3/26. She has put an additional $500+ on it. Still nothing showing as pending, just 1600 for regular spend. I kept checking and finally SMd and they confirmed she met bonus requirements. No idea why nothing is showing yet. Maybe Chase is having a glitch. :confused3

With my CIP#2, met the min spend on 3/26 and still have not seen the SUB pending.

Went back and double checked. Mom's charge that met MSR was actually 3/28 so may have posted a few days later. Her last statement closed 3/24. I confirmed by SM on 4/2 that she met MSR of $4k and they reported she did meet it and was at $4250 and change. So now 8 days after confirming and it’s still not showing as pending. :confused3
I’m not super concerned it won’t post. Mom is not a churner, this is her 2nd ever Chase Card and 3rd card in 6 years. I mainly wanted to make sure she met MSR because she had until 4/25 and I told her I’d help with spend if she hadn’t made it by 4/1 (and I’m sure you all know I’d rather put spend on my own cards than hers lol).

Update on Chase URs pending/posting. My moms 50k for CSP bonus is now shown as pending. Not sure exactly when it happened as I haven’t checked in the past few days.

Quoting myself, 80k SUB is pending on my CIP #2.

Congrats and thanks for the DPs!

Looks like MSRs that were met on 3/26 - 3/28 are seeing their SUBs go pending (17-19 days delay). I posted some DPs from r/churning of SUBs going pending after 21 days.
 
As promised here is a quick Spring Break Aruba trip report.
We booked this trip in February so only about 6 weeks before our trip. I booked our flights through the CSR UR Portal. I could have transferred points to Jet Blue and paid with less points, but the taxes and fees were high so I decided to just the portal. Total cost for airfare was about $2620 so we used 174,908 UR points. We each earned over 1000 miles True Blue points for our points. I love family pooling on Jet Blue! We also love flying Jet Blue. I feel like the seats are comfortable and the televisions are reliable. I love that they give you as many snacks and drinks as you want. We have always had good experiences with them.
We decided to rent a car so we could have more flexibility exploring the island. We rented from Drive 4 Cheap and it was $195 for our 6 days. They met us right outside the airport we signed a few papers and we were on our way. It was so easy and I would definitely use them again!
We stayed our first night at the Renaissance Aruba Resort. The resort is 35,000 points and I had a free night certificate from my Marriott Bonvoy card. This resort is actually 2 hotels the Marina which is adults only and the Ocean Suites. Because we have kids we stayed in the Ocean Suites and there was an extra $102.50 charge. We really enjoyed staying here. It is really close to the airport and has lots of shopping and restaurants nearby. They also have a private island with flamingos which was our main motivation staying here. (I feel conflicted about this because I know their wings are clipped, but once my kids saw pictures it was a must do.) The island is beautiful and we spent a fun day there. The pools at the hotel were good too and their happy hour has $4 drinks and $2.50 smoothies for the kids which was fantastic.
The next 5 nights we stayed at the Aruba Marriott Stellaris. It is 50,000 points per night and with the 5th night free we used 200,000 points. There wasn't any extra resort or parking fees which was nice. This resort is located in the high rise section of the island on Palm Beach. The hotel is great and even though I think we must have had the worst views in the hotel (they checked for an upgrade, but said there wasn't anything available) I loved our location. We could get from our room to the pool in 1 minute and only another 2 minute walk to the beach! It is busy and if you want a seat by the pool in the shade you need to be down fairly early. They have an online system to reserve a Palapa on the beach which worked out really well for us one day. You have to be on the resort at 4:00 to reserve for the next day so it's not super convenient, but if you are there it is easy to do. The pool was fun with waterfalls, a volleyball net and a bar in the pool. The beach was gorgeous with white sand and warm water.
We also used 19,200 UR points to go snorkeling with the Jolly Pirates one morning. This was one of the highlights of our trip. The workers were fun, there was an open bar, the snorkeling was meh, but the rope swing was awesome.
We rented a jeep to explore the other side of the island one day. We rented from More 4 Less for $160 for the day. You need a 4x4 to get to the natural pool in Arikok National Park and it was an awesome day. We visited the donkey sanctuary, went off roading down to the natural pool and visited the caves.
The rest of the time we spent at the pools and the beach. We went parasailing right from the Marriott beach and walked to dinner most nights. Because we have kids we didn't do as many nice dinners as we would like, but we enjoyed the Bugaloe Beach Bar and Moomba's Bar was fun also.
This was such a fun Spring Break and it was a fun and easy island to explore with kids. Let me know if anyone has any questions!

Thanks for the trip report. How close was the Marriott Stellaris to dining and shopping. Is it pretty easy to walk to a lot of places?
 


I can’t remember. Can you use AmEx on Plastiq to pay tuition?

Unless something has changed in the last few months, yes. I just went in and tried a payment to my daughters school with my AMEX and it appeared to work. I didn’t hit submit though as I don’t need to make a payment at this time.
 
Thanks for the trip report. How close was the Marriott Stellaris to dining and shopping. Is it pretty easy to walk to a lot of places?


Moomba’s was really close and the big shopping area with lots of shops and restaurants was probably only a 15 minute walk down the beach. We drove to bugaloes but that’s only because happy hour is at 5 and it was already after 5 when we left!
 


I posted a little while back talking about how I’ve actually been out of the game for awhile. I just haven’t had the energy to manage apps and spends and points so have just been relying on my go to cards.

However, I’m in the process of buying my first house! I’m thrilled and terrified lol. That said I will be doing some renovations immediately. Are there any cards particularly good for this kind of spend? I know the Home improvement stores will offer 0% financing on their cards.

Anybody done this to maximize rewards? Not sure if I should just pick 4-5 cards and go for the best sign-up bonuses to pad my rewards accounts or if there’s a better way to maximize spending from Home Depot/Lowe’s etc.

TIA!!

Pssst: https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/comments/bd1oru/discussion_thread_april_14_2019/ekwh8p9
 
As promised here is a quick Spring Break Aruba trip report.
We booked this trip in February so only about 6 weeks before our trip. I booked our flights through the CSR UR Portal. I could have transferred points to Jet Blue and paid with less points, but the taxes and fees were high so I decided to just the portal. Total cost for airfare was about $2620 so we used 174,908 UR points. We each earned over 1000 miles True Blue points for our points. I love family pooling on Jet Blue! We also love flying Jet Blue. I feel like the seats are comfortable and the televisions are reliable. I love that they give you as many snacks and drinks as you want. We have always had good experiences with them.
We decided to rent a car so we could have more flexibility exploring the island. We rented from Drive 4 Cheap and it was $195 for our 6 days. They met us right outside the airport we signed a few papers and we were on our way. It was so easy and I would definitely use them again!
We stayed our first night at the Renaissance Aruba Resort. The resort is 35,000 points and I had a free night certificate from my Marriott Bonvoy card. This resort is actually 2 hotels the Marina which is adults only and the Ocean Suites. Because we have kids we stayed in the Ocean Suites and there was an extra $102.50 charge. We really enjoyed staying here. It is really close to the airport and has lots of shopping and restaurants nearby. They also have a private island with flamingos which was our main motivation staying here. (I feel conflicted about this because I know their wings are clipped, but once my kids saw pictures it was a must do.) The island is beautiful and we spent a fun day there. The pools at the hotel were good too and their happy hour has $4 drinks and $2.50 smoothies for the kids which was fantastic.
The next 5 nights we stayed at the Aruba Marriott Stellaris. It is 50,000 points per night and with the 5th night free we used 200,000 points. There wasn't any extra resort or parking fees which was nice. This resort is located in the high rise section of the island on Palm Beach. The hotel is great and even though I think we must have had the worst views in the hotel (they checked for an upgrade, but said there wasn't anything available) I loved our location. We could get from our room to the pool in 1 minute and only another 2 minute walk to the beach! It is busy and if you want a seat by the pool in the shade you need to be down fairly early. They have an online system to reserve a Palapa on the beach which worked out really well for us one day. You have to be on the resort at 4:00 to reserve for the next day so it's not super convenient, but if you are there it is easy to do. The pool was fun with waterfalls, a volleyball net and a bar in the pool. The beach was gorgeous with white sand and warm water.
We also used 19,200 UR points to go snorkeling with the Jolly Pirates one morning. This was one of the highlights of our trip. The workers were fun, there was an open bar, the snorkeling was meh, but the rope swing was awesome.
We rented a jeep to explore the other side of the island one day. We rented from More 4 Less for $160 for the day. You need a 4x4 to get to the natural pool in Arikok National Park and it was an awesome day. We visited the donkey sanctuary, went off roading down to the natural pool and visited the caves.
The rest of the time we spent at the pools and the beach. We went parasailing right from the Marriott beach and walked to dinner most nights. Because we have kids we didn't do as many nice dinners as we would like, but we enjoyed the Bugaloe Beach Bar and Moomba's Bar was fun also.
This was such a fun Spring Break and it was a fun and easy island to explore with kids. Let me know if anyone has any questions!

Thanks for the reviews! It sounds great! Do you think it would be hard to smuggle a toddler (3rd child) into either place? I see, they sleep 4 per room...as usual. boo.

ETA: Oh I Just saw you were a family of 5. So you were able to all stay in one room?
 
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New to this thread, and I'm only up to page 960 (don't worry, I started on 950), but had a question.

Can I pay for DVC dues and/or my current DVC direct loan with a travel card?
Only payment method seems to be banking.

Thanks!

My dues are set to be paid annually, I collect discounted (or free via Swagbucks) Disney GCs throughout the year to pay.
 
Hmm, I went back through the normal personal account referrals and they seemed to post within a day of the person hitting the spend. When I referred dh it was two hours after his payment was processed for the normal $500 amount that I got an email on my account that I earned the referral FFDs...

Just FYI, we had to contact them about our FFDs for that promo. We waited a bit but really needed it credited. First ‘DH’ contacted them since he was the one who had been referred and had legitimately completed spend - they credited it almost immediately after ‘he’ contacted them.

I definitely did NOT want them looking at mine so I waited I think at least a week, but also needed the credit in my account to make payments. So I finally contacted them and they updated mine I think the same or next day after contact.

It definitely was NOT quick like they are to credit FFDs for other referrals and promos.

We pretty much used all of the FFDs up in both accounts once they were credited, I figured if we used them they couldn’t really take them back!!

In all honesty though, I’ve found them to generally really want to please the customer. They have NOT been perfect and I have definitely had a few different issues with payments (we use Plastiq quite a bit) but overall I have pretty much always been happy with how they have resolved issues. They have definitely jumped through hoops to help me get situations resolved on occasion.
 
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Just FYI, we had to contact them about our FFDs for that promo. We waited a bit but really needed it credited. First ‘DH’ contacted them since he was the one who had been referred and had legitimately completed spend - they credited it almost immediately after ‘he’ contacted them.

I definitely did NOT want them looking at mine so I waited I think at least a week, but also needed the credit in my account to make payments. So I finally contacted them and they updated mine I think the same or next day after contact.

It definitely was NOT quick like they are to credit FFDs for other referrals and promos.

We pretty much used all of the FFDs up in both accounts once they were credited, I figured if we used them they couldn’t really take them back!!

In all honesty though, I’ve found them to generally really want to please the customer. They have NOT been perfect and I have definitely had a few different issues with payments (we use Plastiq quite a bit) but overall I have pretty much always been happy with how they have resolved issues. They have definitely jumped through hoops to help me get situations resolved on occasion.

Thanks for the insight. I figured I would give them to Wednesday and see if they post. I read several reports on DoC where they had contacted them for the points. Glad your points posted!!
 
Visa GC? Money orders? Sure, they’ll think you’re a crook but... might make the event more entertaining ;)

I know your comment is with fun but I would think they didn't have checks for their account, a lot of people don't now. My CU doesn't even offer free checks with the account and this was when I opened it in 2012, I had to order them elsewhere. I'm pretty sure I could go in and have a check printed but that's such a hassle. If I didn't have my own checks and I didn't want to donate that much in cash because I'd want some kind of paper trail I'd get a MO and make a copy of it before I gave it to them. I've also used MO when I'm unsure how quickly the check will be deposited by the organization I'm giving it to, whether it's for membership dues or something else. Don't want my money just hanging out while they collect enough checks to make a trip to the bank worth their time.
 
Thanks for the reviews! It sounds great! Do you think it would be hard to smuggle a toddler (3rd child) into either place? I see, they sleep 4 per room...as usual. boo.

ETA: Oh I Just saw you were a family of 5. So you were able to all stay in one room?

I know this can be controversial so that’s why I didn’t mention it! The Renaissance is definitely a lot more difficult because everyone has to have their room key scanned (including all kids!) to get on the boat over to the Renaissance private island. But the Stellaris wasn’t a big deal at all. They did ask for all our names at check in but after that it wasn’t a problem at all. We just travel with an air mattress and the room had plenty of space and nobody ever asked us about it. When you rent a palapa you just have to enter 4 guests. There aren’t any wristbands or anything like that. It is hard to travel as a family of 5. But it was pretty great!!
 
I know this can be controversial so that’s why I didn’t mention it! The Renaissance is definitely a lot more difficult because everyone has to have their room key scanned (including all kids!) to get on the boat over to the Renaissance private island. But the Stellaris wasn’t a big deal at all. They did ask for all our names at check in but after that it wasn’t a problem at all. We just travel with an air mattress and the room had plenty of space and nobody ever asked us about it. When you rent a palapa you just have to enter 4 guests. There aren’t any wristbands or anything like that. It is hard to travel as a family of 5. But it was pretty great!!
So, how did you handle the boat to the private island with 5 from the Renaissance?
 
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