I love credit cards so much! v4.0 - 2021 (see first page for add'l details)

[becauseimnew]

Hey! So I have been MIA for awhile now... Got the puppy and she's been keeping me really busy! Have not had time to do much else.

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In other news, wife took me by surprise and made me a P1 only team now. This was the primary reason I got the puppy, DD has wanted one for several years now but with the older cats we kept telling her after they pass but now the wife took the cats so I finally got a puppy. Lots to figure out now but CC stuff and Disney vacations are pretty much all called off for now.

what a cutie! And sorry about losing P2! And I'll keep my fingers crossed you can get back to planning Disney trips soon.

 

[becauseimnew]

Southwest is really making me mad... I'm on hold trying to fix the mistake on our daughters' flight home. And they switched our MCO departure flight - moved us to a 2 stop flight but it doesn't mention the second stop in the email. Glad I logged in before the free change flight window ended.

ETA: was on hold for 1.5 hours.

 

[mfly]

Southwest is really making me mad... I'm on hold trying to fix the mistake on our daughters' flight home. And they switched our MCO departure flight - moved us to a 2 stop flight but it doesn't mention the second stop in the email. Glad I logged in before the free change flight window ended.

ETA: was on hold for 1.5 hours.

Just in case anyone else reads this: I’ve had success DMing SW on Twitter when I was past the change window. I didn’t realize my flight had changed until after (wasn’t keeping a close eye on it) and they changed it for free for me after the change window had closed, no questions.

Glad you got your situation worked out! Sorry you had to wait an hour and a half on hold!

 

[disfanforlife]

I have been a slow churner. Last new card I got was CSP in July 2020. Applied yesterday and got instant approval for CIU. Yay! Now I have a question is it worth it for me to pay the AF on my CSP to keep for another year so that once I get my URs from my CIU I can transfer them and use PYB at grocery store for GC? Otherwise I was going to PC my CSP to a CF which I don’t even have one of.

 

[Judique]

I have been a slow churner. Last new card I got was CSP in July 2020. Applied yesterday and got instant approval for CIU. Yay! Now I have a question is it worth it for me to pay the AF on my CSP to keep for another year so that once I get my URs from my CIU I can transfer them and use PYB at grocery store for GC? Otherwise I was going to PC my CSP to a CF which I don’t even have one of.

Do you need the gift cards soon enough or want them bad enough to pay $95 to get them?

You may have other UR's to cash in - I don't know. But looking at the math - 75000 UR's = $750 x 1.25 = $937.50 cashed in. Subtract the $95 fee from this and you have a profit of $937.50 -$95 = $842.50. $842.50 - $750 = a $92.50 extra profit after the $95 fee.

@SouthFayetteFan would then take this down to a % but I'm stopping here.

For that, I would keep them, but my use for UR's is not gift cards. I transfer to Hyatt where I get about 2 and 1/2 cents per point value (this varies based on the redemption).

Now, in my case MR's can become gift cards. But many wince at that as MRs are more valuable for fancy flights.

So the point is it is different for everyone. Many would do this. You started out with $750 and end up with $842.50 total so it's not a bad deal. Depends on what you want.

Editing to add: You may be able to cash out before the annual fee comes due, depending on how long it takes to spend for your MSR - mine always look daunting and then they are finished asap. Chase drops the UR's fairly quickly also.

 

[LilSweetPeaPhoto]

Since y'all are along for the hockey journey....we showed up last night to tryout #1. I was shocked to see the mom of another teammate there. They got the "cut" call at 4pm! Like just before he was heading to the team tryouts! I said, WHOA! I guess I'm lucky that they told us on Thursday. The kid was on the team for 5 seasons! His parents were NOT happy! Also heard one of our better players is leaving to play a team closer to home, and 2 others might be looking elsewhere. So they will be losing all of their offense, LOL.

My son skated great last night. He got a call back for Thursday night. This team is one league/level above his current team (well actually 2, but his team will move up this season). Tonight he's going to a team that plays a level below his current team, and barely won any games, so he's not too excited. I'm almost viewing this as a "backup team". Brady will tryout at another higher level team on Weds. And then one Friday if needed. The downside of last night's team was that one of his ex-coaches from a previous team was there. Brady HATES him! Hockey is such a small world despite how big it is, LOL. Luckily it looks like he's just a parent (and not coaching).

I lost a whole bunch of cards I bought at Safeway. Freaked me out...I found them 2 months later.

My daughter feels like I'll find them 3 mos after I stop looking. I hope so. They weren't at school. But I felt like that was a long shot to begin with.

Got my Citi checking bonus over the weekend, 4 months after opening, I was pleased. Got another bank bonus earlier this month, $900 in one month, can't complain about that.

Can I close the Citi now? DoC says there isn't anything that says you can't.

Which bonuses? I need to do one and start my escrow account ASAP. I keep overlooking offers I had in the past. Grrrr.

Hey! So I have been MIA for awhile now... Got the puppy and she's been keeping me really busy! Have not had time to do much else.
In other news, wife took me by surprise and made me a P1 only team now. This was the primary reason I got the puppy, DD has wanted one for several years now but with the older cats we kept telling her after they pass but now the wife took the cats so I finally got a puppy. Lots to figure out now but CC stuff and Disney vacations are pretty much all called off for now.

Sorry to hear you're joining the ranks of P1. I'm a P1, but it was my doing, so I've been happy about the choice. The ex was TERRIBLE playing this CC game, LOL.

 

[becauseimnew]

Meeting MSRs just got a little bit easier, Navy Federal released our Escrow and now I can pay USAA tons of money using a credit card.

 

[Princess Michele]

I am looking for advice on the path to take to try to earn free flights for our trip to Hawaii in 2023. I am currently 2/24 with the following cards.

07/19 – Barclays Wyndham Rewards
01/21 – BOA Premium Rewards

Currently we do not have any credit cards which earn UR’s or MR’s. The only other cards we have are Chase Disney Visa (no AF) and Navy Federal Credit Union Go Rewards Visa.

We will be flying to Kona, Hawaii from the Washington, DC area so no non-stop flights from the East Coast. We will be flying back from Honolulu and to avoid an overnight flight we will probably fly to the West Coast or mid-West and stay overnight. We can fly out of BWI, DCA, or IAD and have too many options for airlines. Currently there are available flights on American, Delta, United, Alaska, Southwest, Hawaiian or a combination of airlines. Who knows what flights will be like in 2 years so I am not ready to pick one airline right now.

I was hoping that we could fly first class or premium since we will be taking my mom on this trip. There will be a total of 6 people so it may not be possible to earn enough points/miles for that many. I know you can transfer UR’s/MR’s to other programs like Avios and KrisFlyer to use fewer points and that it might be hard to find 6 award seats. With so many choices I do not know which way to go. I am having a difficult time choosing between Chase and AMEX cards so we will have the best options when we are ready to book our flights.

With the increased SUBs I was thinking trying for an MDD with a CSP/CSR would be a good choice. We can meet the MSR for both cards without any problem. If I can talk DH into helping he could be a P2 and get a CSP later. I would then have 2 slots remaining if we decide to fly Southwest and try for their CP. If we have to fly economy it seems like Southwest is the best value.

The other option would be AMEX cards to earn MR’s. I was looking at the Platinum card and then a Gold card. I know we would not be able to combine MR’s if I can get my DH to become a P2.

I do not think we could meet the MSR for most business cards so I am not really looking at those right now. We do not need to worry about lodging as most of that will be covered by timeshare points. I do not have a problem paying AF’s if the SUB and benefits are good.

Would Chase credit cards be the most flexible option for what we are trying to achieve or would AMEX work better? Thank you for any help.

 

[becauseimnew]

I am looking for advice on the path to take to try to earn free flights for our trip to Hawaii in 2023. I am currently 2/24 with the following cards.

07/19 – Barclays Wyndham Rewards
01/21 – BOA Premium Rewards

Currently we do not have any credit cards which earn UR’s or MR’s. The only other cards we have are Chase Disney Visa (no AF) and Navy Federal Credit Union Go Rewards Visa.

We will be flying to Kona, Hawaii from the Washington, DC area so no non-stop flights from the East Coast. We will be flying back from Honolulu and to avoid an overnight flight we will probably fly to the West Coast or mid-West and stay overnight. We can fly out of BWI, DCA, or IAD and have too many options for airlines. Currently there are available flights on American, Delta, United, Alaska, Southwest, Hawaiian or a combination of airlines. Who knows what flights will be like in 2 years so I am not ready to pick one airline right now.

I was hoping that we could fly first class or premium since we will be taking my mom on this trip. There will be a total of 6 people so it may not be possible to earn enough points/miles for that many. I know you can transfer UR’s/MR’s to other programs like Avios and KrisFlyer to use fewer points and that it might be hard to find 6 award seats. With so many choices I do not know which way to go. I am having a difficult time choosing between Chase and AMEX cards so we will have the best options when we are ready to book our flights.

With the increased SUBs I was thinking trying for an MDD with a CSP/CSR would be a good choice. We can meet the MSR for both cards without any problem. If I can talk DH into helping he could be a P2 and get a CSP later. I would then have 2 slots remaining if we decide to fly Southwest and try for their CP. If we have to fly economy it seems like Southwest is the best value.

The other option would be AMEX cards to earn MR’s. I was looking at the Platinum card and then a Gold card. I know we would not be able to combine MR’s if I can get my DH to become a P2.

I do not think we could meet the MSR for most business cards so I am not really looking at those right now. We do not need to worry about lodging as most of that will be covered by timeshare points. I do not have a problem paying AF’s if the SUB and benefits are good.

Would Chase credit cards be the most flexible option for what we are trying to achieve or would AMEX work better? Thank you for any help.

Hi and Welcome!
I would for sure start off with the CSP/CSR MDD (don't forget to request to join us on Reddit for support links). I'm actually planning a very similar trip to Hawaii for June 2022. There will be 6 of us (4A + 2C), my parents are joining us. For us, we will be flying from the midwest to OGG, then onto HNL and back.

We are flying American - between myself and DH we have 320,000 AA miles - mostly from credit SUBs which we have accumulated in the last 2 years. We each got a Citi Biz card (70K SUB) and Barclay Biz (60K) and I got the Barclay Red (personal). American is pretty good about releasing 6 saver first class tickets. I was just looking at I could easily get us 6 Biz/First from TUL to OGG on a weekday flight. Return flights on 1st/Biz aren't as easy.

For hotels we are using Marriott & Hyatt points, all from SUBs and transfers from Amex and Chase.

We will also use URs to pay for activities and car rentals. Feel free to ask me any questions, you have 2 years to earn points/miles which is great. After your MDD, I would focus on airline mile since you'll want to make sure you have those in place 11/12 months before your trip.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

I'm looking at flights ORD-LHR next March. Our dates aren't open yet but I'm seeing an early flight which is consistently less miles than the overnight (preferred) flights. It arrives LHR at 10:30 pm. Assuming this would get us to a hotel well after midnight. Anyone frequenting LHR know what it's like there late night? Taxis available?
Also, I know there is currently a quarantine restriction in place. Are people booking assuming restrictions will be lifted but plan to cancel if they are not?

 

[becauseimnew]

I'm looking at flights ORD-LHR next March. Our dates aren't open yet but I'm seeing an early flight which is consistently less miles than the overnight (preferred) flights. It arrives LHR at 10:30 pm. Assuming this would get us to a hotel well after midnight. Anyone frequenting LHR know what it's like there late night? Taxis available?
Also, I know there is currently a quarantine restriction in place. Are people booking assuming restrictions will be lifted but plan to cancel if they are not?

Did you see that Europe is opening up to fully vaccinated American's? They haven't released specifics but should be in place by this summer.

 

[elgerber]

Which bonuses? I need to do one and start my escrow account ASAP. I keep overlooking offers I had in the past. Grrrr.

The other one was Associated Bank, IL, MN,WI only

 

[disfanforlife]

Do you need the gift cards soon enough or want them bad enough to pay $95 to get them?

You may have other UR's to cash in - I don't know. But looking at the math - 75000 UR's = $750 x 1.25 = $937.50 cashed in. Subtract the $95 fee from this and you have a profit of $937.50 -$95 = $842.50. $842.50 - $750 = a $92.50 extra profit after the $95 fee.

@SouthFayetteFan would then take this down to a % but I'm stopping here.

For that, I would keep them, but my use for UR's is not gift cards. I transfer to Hyatt where I get about 2 and 1/2 cents per point value (this varies based on the redemption).

Now, in my case MR's can become gift cards. But many wince at that as MRs are more valuable for fancy flights.

So the point is it is different for everyone. Many would do this. You started out with $750 and end up with $842.50 total so it's not a bad deal. Depends on what you want.

Editing to add: You may be able to cash out before the annual fee comes due, depending on how long it takes to spend for your MSR - mine always look daunting and then they are finished asap. Chase drops the UR's fairly quickly also.

Thank you for your feed back. No, I don't need the GC right away. I was just wanting to get them because of the 1.25% PYB. If I am keeping the CSP for another year there is even less hurry for them. I would also be thrilled to transfer to Hyatt but at the moment it looks like we are mainly going to be using our DVC points for travel. I do want to go to Cali and Hawaii but realistically I don't see it happening before 2023. I had been thinking about opening a hotel card but when I Realized how far off it would be before I knew if we would even use the points I figured a Chase Biz would be better and fortunately I was approved. I wasn't sure how hard it would be to get one now since I know for awhile they had been turning people down. I do have some other URs left to cash in. I am going to wait until May 1 and then the next time our grocery store has a promo on GC I plan to buy some more.

 

[afan]

Did you see that Europe is opening up to fully vaccinated American's? They haven't released specifics but should be in place by this summer.

The EU is and countries within the EU can still have their own restrictions etc. Also, the UK isn't part of the EU anymore and haven't said what they are doing as far as I've seen.

 

[becauseimnew]

The EU is and countries within the EU can still have their own restrictions etc. Also, the UK isn't part of the EU anymore and haven't said what they are doing as far as I've seen.

I would assume that the UK would follow, I'm sure they wouldn't want to miss out on all the tourism.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Did you see that Europe is opening up to fully vaccinated American's? They haven't released specifics but should be in place by this summer.

DH and I are vaccinated but DS is not. he will be by fall assuming vax are approved for 12-15 yo. Although GB is not part of EU, hoping they will be open by then.
This travel stuff is gutting me. I am just delaying the inevitable by not canceling our Disneyland trip yet. No way we're going in June, will have to re-book for June 2022. Instead we will likely be at a soccer tournament in northern WI instead of DLR

 

[Judique]

Well I doubt I have the ability to maximize this offer by June 30th,2021.

I have a BOA Amtrak card. It earns Amtrak rewards.

Just received an offer to earn 2% 'cash back' up to $150 in statement credits by June 30th.

So, my regular Amtrak reward plus 2 cents for each dollar, and it also has offers like the ones from Chase. Really, I had just about sock drawered this card and was getting ready to close before the fee is due in July or August.

Closing is still the best plan.

So many offers........

 

[wanderlust7]

Thank you for your feed back. No, I don't need the GC right away. I was just wanting to get them because of the 1.25% PYB. If I am keeping the CSP for another year there is even less hurry for them. I would also be thrilled to transfer to Hyatt but at the moment it looks like we are mainly going to be using our DVC points for travel. I do want to go to Cali and Hawaii but realistically I don't see it happening before 2023. I had been thinking about opening a hotel card but when I Realized how far off it would be before I knew if we would even use the points I figured a Chase Biz would be better and fortunately I was approved. I wasn't sure how hard it would be to get one now since I know for awhile they had been turning people down. I do have some other URs left to cash in. I am going to wait until May 1 and then the next time our grocery store has a promo on GC I plan to buy some more.

You can also consider upgrading to the CSR for 1.5% PYB. AF is $550, but with $300 travel credit that can be used on gas/grocery through end of the year. When it renews, you can use the credit again, then downgrade to a no fee and come out ahead $50 with the AF.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

The other one was Associated Bank, IL, MN,WI only

How fast did Associated Bank post? It says $500 DD within 90 days. Did you trigger with 1 DD?

 

[elgerber]

How fast did Associated Bank post? It says $500 DD within 90 days. Did you trigger with 1 DD?

no, I had multiple DD, plus a push from Ally to meet the balance requirements. Opening deposit credited 12/24, bonus posted 3/30