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

[wendow]

For the Safeway deal, I only have the $10 off a visa GC of $100 or more. If I buy a $500 GC, can I load it to Venmo? It won’t work for plastiq, right? At least not at the 1% fee?

 

[shairpdrh]

Yes, kinda. I would either cash out for the $3,450 or save the URs and use it for air travel, etc and get the full $5,175 through my CSR. (Or a combo of the two and meet in the middle)

The difference between a resale contract around the same size that’s been passing ROFR and direct purchase is about $5,250 which is pretty hard to swallow, BUT I want that dang blue member card (Disney knows how to manipulate me).


I figure the “savings” from URs would help a little considering the max resale I could do on a CC is $2,000.

Am I crazy? lol

Maybe, but you are in good company! I wanted the card, too. We have bought both ways and direct is SO EASY. I am trying to not let your idea sink in too far as I would love more points.

 

[schmass]

Yay!!!! Maybe time to pick my airline and order a gift card.

Yes! It looks like it must have been a glitch earlier this month! I bought a $200 gc and it showed up under "southwest airlines" no mention of giftcard.

 

[Etonduf]

YNAB users @Etonduf @disneymagicgirl @1st*toright @amalone1013 and others

Is the Amex connection down for you? It’s been down all weekend for maintenance. Don’t they know I have 2 new Amex cards to add!!

Mine doesn't indicate that it's down, but I don't have any recent activity to confirm. (Usually I get the little warning symbol if a connection is down, but AmEx doesn't have that--and was working a few days ago when it last had transactions to sync).

 

[PolyRob]

I’m not sure when we’ll buy our APs but I know it’ll be sometime this summer. I’m pretty sure we’re buying the one with no blackout dates. I’d like to get some discounted gcs first but we won’t have a lot of time for that

You could always start with gold, and then upgrade to platinum later on to avoid the blackouts. Gold only blocks the week of Christmas through New Years and the week of Easter. If you really want those dates, you could purchase gold and upgrade to platinum the day before the blackout starts in December. You would have full summer access and save some money. Silver would block parts of the summer so avoid that one.

 

[dtrain]

I am having problems redeeming Amex Membership Rewards Points through their travel portal. No matter what I choose for travel redemption, whether it be hotels or airline etc., when I go through the motions to redeem my points I get this error message, "We apologize, the Membership Rewards® system is currently unavailable." This has been going on for months, and I have contacted Amex countless times to report it, but they always insist there is nothing wrong on their end. I have switched browsers, cleared cache and cookies, used public computers....always the same thing. Amex says they can book what I want for me using my points but I really want to have the ability to do this myself. I can't imagine I'm the only one experiencing this. Can anyone here who has membership rewards points go through the motions of redeeming them and see if you get this error? Appreciate any feedback.

 

[Judique]

It indicates direct ownership which grants you a few extra privledges such as discounted annual passes (usually the Florida resident level gold pass but last year they offered the Platinum Plus with no blackouts and water parks for the price of Gold. It was a really good deal), ability to (try) to book member only events, discounts, etc. Nothing earth shattering but when we purchased we only need 25 points direct so the price difference wasn’t too bad and I feel we’ll get value over our next 24 or so years of ownership (Boulder Ridge).

2042 for me and I'm hoping I live as long as the membership...22 and a half (?) more years to go, me being 66 right now as it ends in January 2042. Will someone push my chair that last visit? My oldest will be social security aged.

 

[PolyRob]

I want the membership card eventually too. We should be able to fully pay off this contract in December after the wedding. Then maybe we will do a poly resale and 75 points direct through Disney at the poly?

That is great! So happy you secured your VGC and will have it paid so fast. I like your plan of Poly for the extended 2066 contract date with direct benefits. Hopefully there aren't any more changes until 2020! Poly is currently the resort I want my master contract with because I absolutely love Poly and it still has 47 years. I have been on a VGF waitlist, but when I heard you mention Poly points available, I got excited Do you happen to know/remember which UY your guide had found? lol

Maybe, but you are in good company! I wanted the card, too. We have bought both ways and direct is SO EASY. I am trying to not let your idea sink in too far as I would love more points.

Glad I am in good company. DVC was actually how I found this lovely thread

HAHA sorry to tempt you!

 

[speedyfishy]

Poly points available, I got excited Do you happen to know/remember which UY your guide had found? lol

He said I could pick any UY

 

[PolyRob]

He said I could pick any UY

Thank you! That is dangerous. lol Maybe I need to give my guide a call.

 

[platamama]

I’d like to find a non-Chase alternative for P2 now that Arrival+ is dead. Are there rumors of anything new coming to replace that Arrival? I was planning on it being a July card for P2. Capital One Venture? Just wondering if anyone has ideas. Wanted something to help with train fare in Europe next summer. I could always get him doing AA also, but hoping for something more helpful for Europe. Also have to be concerned about velocity over the summer when our bills are so high and we can handle more MSR’s. This Plastiq deal is great timing for us!

Here are his recent cards:
BoA AAA 5/17 (now off his 5/24)
CIP 7/18
IHG Premier 8/18
Amex Plat 10/18
United Biz 2/19
CIP2 5/26/19

If you're ok with taking up a 5/24 spot, the BoA Premium Rewards Visa card is decent. $500/3K. $95 AF (not waived), $100 airline incidental credit (airline agnostic), no FTF, $100 credit for GE/TSAPreCheck q 4 years. Earns 1.5% everywhere, 2% travel and dining. 25%-75% bonus depending on Preferred Rewards status. His existing BoA relationship will probably help with getting approved. ETA: Do not use this card on Plastiq!! (that might make it out of the question for you? if so stick with Cap1)

The main difference between this and the Capital One Venture (and Cap1 was similar to the Arrival+ in this regard) is that with the BoAPR you can redeem as a statement credit without being forced to use it for travel credits in order to get the maximum out of the points/miles. For example with Cap1, if you have 10K miles you can redeem for a $100 travel credit or $50 cash. With BoAPR, 10K pts is worth $100 cash. A new benefit to the Cap1 is transfer partnerships with numerous airlines, but it's not a 1:1 transfer, that varies depending on the airline.

There are rumors of a new Arrival product. But the last time Barclays did that, it was an epic fail, and they returned to offering the Arrival+ again.

 

[WVMomof3]

Went on a 5.5 mile beach walk this morning and currently sitting poolside. Bored off of my rocker. Lol Relaxing vacations are not for me. I do have a book to read but I get distracted easily with all the kid and bird noises.

 

[miztressuz]

AmEx offers, nothing new for travel that I noticed but

Vineyard Vines, Spend $150 get $30, exp 9/3

The other ones might be regional, I had a new one for Pietro's Italian and Estia, which both appear to be restaurants.

 

[DisneyMandC]

AC part came in... home warranty is approved... now the repair guy tells me he can't come out until tomorrow even though he told me he'd be out today as long as the part came in...

 

[bernina]

I’m not sure when we’ll buy our APs but I know it’ll be sometime this summer. I’m pretty sure we’re buying the one with no blackout dates. I’d like to get some discounted gcs first but we won’t have a lot of time for that

Worst case use a Target RedCard for 5%. If you don’t already have one you can just get the Debit card and not have it hit your credit report.

 

[bernina]

Mine doesn't indicate that it's down, but I don't have any recent activity to confirm. (Usually I get the little warning symbol if a connection is down, but AmEx doesn't have that--and was working a few days ago when it last had transactions to sync).

Thanks! I did a quick chat and they said it should be up by tomorrow. Sounds like it’s not impacting all amex. Aren’t I lucky

 

[Alexle2007]

AmEx offers, nothing new for travel that I noticed but

Vineyard Vines, Spend $150 get $30, exp 9/3

The other ones might be regional, I had a new one for Pietro's Italian and Estia, which both appear to be restaurants.

Off to see if we have VV. (Although DS isn’t supposed to need new clothes since he’ll be in an uniform in 2 short months.

 

[Alexle2007]

Went on a 5.5 mile beach walk this morning and currently sitting poolside. Bored off of my rocker. Lol Relaxing vacations are not for me. I do have a book to read but I get distracted easily with all the kid and bird noises.

Three more 3 days and mine will be adding to the noise

 

[wanderlust7]

Just cleared out all my Cap1 miles. I "erased" a travel charge I already erased before. Wish I had remembered this before I put the DL tickets from LMT Club on the Venture. Could have put it on an Amex to keep Amex happy instead. Oh well.

 

[alryan]

Ok. I broke down and checked the automated status line tonight, and DW has been approved for CIP3 with a $9k CL!

CIP1: Opened 9/17, closed 10/18
CIP2: Approved 3/11/19, still open with CL reduced to $1k as of a month ago.
Also open: CIU approved in 9/18 ($5k CL), and a CIC approved in 12/18 ($1k CL).

Tagging @DisneyMandC, @elgerber, and @disneymagicgirl — thanks for waiting along with me this weekend. I hope you all hear your good news soon!

You missed me!! Happy Monday for me! Woke up this morning and CIP2 is in my account and 85,000 points for CIP2 for DH posted today as well. So that makes 7 total Chase cards for me, including 4 business. Glad that I’ll be able to cancel one in three months. And looked at my phone log..only called 4 times yesterday! Glad I had a busy day! Hope the rest of you got approvals as well!