I love credit cards so much! v5.0 - 2022 (see first page for add'l details)

[FreeDiningFanatic]

CSP PYB categories are AirBNB and charities. I really wish it was dining but dining is only on CSR. At least mine is that way. Maybe dining is on new SUBs?

Ooof, you are correct. It looks like according to TPG, it's the CSR (which we also have) which includes dining. Thanks for the correction.

@mom2connorandcaleb Please take note of the correction above.

 

[Killer Fish]

Went for the first leg of MDD this morning and got "Thank you for your request" We need to review a little longer. Rather annoying after dropping all my CL and getting to 30% of income. Now I guess I just need to keep an eagle eye on if/when it is approved to do part 2.

Took a few calls and some document verification (first time for that....wonder if I filled out the form wrong) but CSP was approved this morning.....will go for part 2 tomorrow! Hopefully it can go a little bit smoother. Any reason not to login first tomorrow before applying? I guess worse case scenario now is that it (CSR) gets denied and I just do a PC from a Freedom to a Reserve and double dip the credit.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

It's a little better, because the VX earns 2x on all purchases.

Yes but CSP, CSR, CFU, CFF, CIU, CIC, all earn more than 1x in at least 1 category. I've not averaged it, but I likely get an average at least 2x by using bonus categories.

 

[iujen94]

Yes but CSP, CSR, CFU, CFF, CIU, CIC, all earn more than 1x in at least 1 category. I've not averaged it, but I likely get an average at least 2x by using bonus categories.

Very true. I only use the VX in situations where I wouldn’t get more than 2X on another card (and honestly, I have barely used it since meeting the SUB!). And then I only use those points to redeem for travel that I can’t book through Chase or AMEX travel partners or through the Chase portal. Not necessarily the best value, but it’s nice to have the extra flexibility.

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

Using this link from DOC, DH was successfully targeted for 20k MR for enrolling in Pay over Time. For my acct, it brought up the generic enrollment page, WITHOUT the 20k offer, so be sure to be specifically looking for that.

 

[elgerber]

Ok I’m here for advice. I’d like to know the best credit card to open to get rewards. We are going to Disney in the next year, probably January. We do not fly, we drive. We may stay on-site, but maybe not since we are a family of 6 and would have to get 2 rooms. Would rewards be able to be applied to tickets only? I would stay on Disney property if rewards helped with that only.

My husband and I have not applied for or have been approved for any new credit cards in the last 24 months. We primarily use our Chase Visa for everything (Amazon card) and pay it off every month. We average about $5,000 a month. We have many other store credit cards, but none of them are new. We have great credit, both over 800.

Should we both get a new credit card in separate names? I’m not sure I alone would qualify for a very big credit line. My husband’s income is a lot more than mine. What other info do I need to include? Thank you for any advice you have!

If you really want to stay onsite, and getting tickets with points would help, the Cap One Venture miles can be used for tickets, if you purchase through Undercover Tourist. If neither of you have ever had a Cap One card, one of you could get one, and then refer the other. It's not quite as many points as going the chase route for UR's but it would help.
bonus is currently 60000 miles with a $3k spend, and it's 2x on each dollar, so 66000 total. This is $660 worth of tickets from UCT. I believe the support is 10000 miles. BUT you only get that if the other person has never had a Cap One card.

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

Good travel hacking morning. When Marriott launched the FNC + top off, I grabbed one night at the Swan Reserve that was at 50k and topped it off with 15k random points in my acct. I have been stalking the Marriott Bonvoy site a few times a day to see if the following night would drop from 53-55k it was fluctuating at, and lo and behold, this morning it was at 50k. So I grabbed that with DH's FNC and topped it off.

Our passholder rate would have been $1022 with taxes and fees.
Instead we'll pay (2)$95 AF + (2)35 resort fees= $260

Um, that's crazy!

In other news, my starbucks refresher keeps leaking on my shirt when I take a sip. That is all.

 

[AmyAnne]

you would want to sign up for clear via Delta or United to pay the $120 fee vs the $179 fee.
if u have a P2, $120+$60 = $179 vs one person for $179

additionally, there may be a incentive to sign up through say United, they were giving out $100 travel vouchers...

This is a good point, although with the $75 Uber credit it comes out sort of even to pay $179, if I'm thinking about it correctly.

 

[Judique]

Check emails for Chase business card bonus. Looks like 2x points with $5k spend. Might be good for big expenses without a SUB.

I was thinking of 5K from Staples over 3 months for my CIC. Some of what I would probably be doing anyway although I normally don't buy more than $6 to $800. I'd just have to double it and use the cards for everything. Somehow I manage to spend $3 to $4k a month, but spreading it over many credit cards.

 

[becauseimnew]

Can someone help me with the details of using the AmEx plat to purchase Clear (the link on my AmEx account is not working). Is this one of those things that I need to enroll in first, or just pay with the plat? Anything else I should know?

You just pay with the Plat, DH and I both used the Uber $75 voucher link. We each have Plats and earned each earned a voucher.

 

[georgina]

Will this anger the Chase gods? I was approved for the CIP on 3/23/22. It had a fairly low credit limit, so I moved over about $5k in credit limit from each of my two CICs, leaving only $1200 of credit limit on each of those cards. I then made a $16k purchase on my CIP. Once I pay off my CIP, can I move the $5k credit limits back to each of my CICs? Or will Chase not like me moving around credit limits so quickly?

I moved credit between 3 biz cards about 3 times in a 2 month span for similar reasons. Planning to close one eventually, but Chase had no problem whenever I sent them a SM asking to move credit around.

 

[georgina]

Good travel hacking morning. When Marriott launched the FNC + top off, I grabbed one night at the Swan Reserve that was at 50k and topped it off with 15k random points in my acct. I have been stalking the Marriott Bonvoy site a few times a day to see if the following night would drop from 53-55k it was fluctuating at, and lo and behold, this morning it was at 50k. So I grabbed that with DH's FNC and topped it off.

Our passholder rate would have been $1022 with taxes and fees.
Instead we'll pay (2)$95 AF + (2)35 resort fees= $260

Um, that's crazy!

In other news, my starbucks refresher keeps leaking on my shirt when I take a sip. That is all.

I see a night I want in Dec is 50,000 but I don’t have the certificate yet, i got my card in May so it should come soon.

 

[iujen94]

Question about the AMEX Plat Saks credit - is there any strategy to using it? For example, are there ever super high Rakuten rates at Saks, or AMEX offers at Saks that I should hold out for? Or just go ahead and use it whenever?

 

[afan]

Question about the AMEX Plat Saks credit - is there any strategy to using it? For example, are there ever super high Rakuten rates at Saks, or AMEX offers at Saks that I should hold out for? Or just go ahead and use it whenever?

They sometimes have 10% CB but I don't generally wait for it to happen. If it's going on and I haven't used my credit that will motivate me to do it. But I'm more concerned with doing it far enough before the end of june/Dec so i don't have to worry about the credit posting for the right period if it takes awhile to ship. Or in case there's an issue. I try now to only order one item vs 2-3 to get to the 50 after I had an item show up without one of its pieces. Unlike other retailers, they wouldn't just send me a new one, I had to send it back and wait for a refund to my card. I had already found an item tland ordered it to make up the dif since I had gotten my credit from amex and didn't want it to get clawed back.

 

[platamama]

Question about the AMEX Plat Saks credit - is there any strategy to using it? For example, are there ever super high Rakuten rates at Saks, or AMEX offers at Saks that I should hold out for? Or just go ahead and use it whenever?

I do check with cashbackmonitordotcom to see which portal is offering the most; also on that website you can click on "View Best Rate History" to see how Sak's has been trending. So for instance, that shows Sak's was getting 15% cash back on 5-10-21 on Rakuten...whether or not they'll do that again this year who knows.

I like to save items in my Saks cart so that when I want to make a purchase it's all there for me to choose from. The best deals have been when Saks is running a gift card sale, i.e. buy $125 worth of stuff and get a $50 gift card (not accurate, just pulling some numbers out of my head) but you can't plan on that happening either. I like using ShopRunner for the free shipping and returns for if I change my mind.

 

[KPK02090]

NVM - still in pop-up jail. What's the best offer currently floating around out there on an Amex Gold Card? I'll probably get the pop-up but want to give it another try. Thanks!

New question:
Here are my cards from the last 24 months, putting me at 4/24 (one will drop in August).
8/20 Chase Freedom Unlimited
11/20 Marriot Bonvoy Biz - Amex
01/21 Chase Ink Cash
01/21 Chase Freedom Flex
9/21 Chase Ink Unlimited (CIU)
11/21 Southwest Premier
11/21 Southwest Plus
04/22 CIC

I have a $6,500 spend that is due June 1. I can't get any Amex (pop-up) and I just got a CIC in April, so no Chase either. What are my other options? Are there any good non-Chase or non-Amex offers out there. I'm not really interested in airline points as I have a lot of SW points, plus a companion pass. But travel erasers, cash back, hotels are all good. I just hate the spend to not earn anything. Oh, and there's a fee to pay with credit card, so unless I have a decent SUB it's not going to be worth it to pay by credit card, which kills me.
Thanks for any advice anyone has to offer.

 

[wweazel]

NVM - still in pop-up jail. What's the best offer currently floating around out there on an Amex Gold Card? I'll probably get the pop-up but want to give it another try. Thanks!

New question:
Here are my cards from the last 24 months, putting me at 4/24 (one will drop in August).
8/20 Chase Freedom Unlimited
11/20 Marriot Bonvoy Biz - Amex
01/21 Chase Ink Cash
01/21 Chase Freedom Flex
9/21 Chase Ink Unlimited (CIU)
11/21 Southwest Premier
11/21 Southwest Plus
04/22 CIC

I have a $6,500 spend that is due June 1. I can't get any Amex (pop-up) and I just got a CIC in April, so no Chase either. What are my other options? Are there any good non-Chase or non-Amex offers out there. I'm not really interested in airline points as I have a lot of SW points, plus a companion pass. But travel erasers, cash back, hotels are all good. I just hate the spend to not earn anything. Oh, and there's a fee to pay with credit card, so unless I have a decent SUB it's not going to be worth it to pay by credit card, which kills me.
Thanks for any advice anyone has to offer.

I've had the Venture X for a few months. Really like how easy the travel eraser is, DD luggage fees for a school trip - gone! Booked an AA flight through the portal for the same price as direct with AA. Had a $20 ish option to make it fully refundable. The credit towards the annual $300 travel credit was in my account in a few days. Priority Pass sign up was easy, card in the mail in a couple weeks( haven't used it yet)
AF is $395, but $300 annual travel credit and 10,000 anniversary points, I feel like I break even on that, before the PP and Precheck benefits.

 

[mom2connorandcaleb]

If you really want to stay onsite, and getting tickets with points would help, the Cap One Venture miles can be used for tickets, if you purchase through Undercover Tourist. If neither of you have ever had a Cap One card, one of you could get one, and then refer the other. It's not quite as many points as going the chase route for UR's but it would help.
bonus is currently 60000 miles with a $3k spend, and it's 2x on each dollar, so 66000 total. This is $660 worth of tickets from UCT. I believe the support is 10000 miles. BUT you only get that if the other person has never had a Cap One card.

We don’t care if we stay onsite, a hotel offsite is fine with us!

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

NVM - still in pop-up jail. What's the best offer currently floating around out there on an Amex Gold Card? I'll probably get the pop-up but want to give it another try. Thanks!

New question:
Here are my cards from the last 24 months, putting me at 4/24 (one will drop in August).
8/20 Chase Freedom Unlimited
11/20 Marriot Bonvoy Biz - Amex
01/21 Chase Ink Cash
01/21 Chase Freedom Flex
9/21 Chase Ink Unlimited (CIU)
11/21 Southwest Premier
11/21 Southwest Plus
04/22 CIC

I have a $6,500 spend that is due June 1. I can't get any Amex (pop-up) and I just got a CIC in April, so no Chase either. What are my other options? Are there any good non-Chase or non-Amex offers out there. I'm not really interested in airline points as I have a lot of SW points, plus a companion pass. But travel erasers, cash back, hotels are all good. I just hate the spend to not earn anything. Oh, and there's a fee to pay with credit card, so unless I have a decent SUB it's not going to be worth it to pay by credit card, which kills me.
Thanks for any advice anyone has to offer.

I would agree with the Venture X recommendation. I am still earning my SUB and the portal has some quirks, but there are some other features of the portal I like, such as its fare predictor tool. I think there are some suppport links on dischurners if you need one.

I too play only really in the Chase and Amex sandbox, besides the one Capital One card. If you haven't tried all the tricks with pop up jail, like using support links, not using support links, incognito mode, etc, that might be an avenue to try.

If you don't come up with better options, I think you could also try for a Chase biz card on like 5/23. That gives you 30 days and the worst that happens is that you're denied right? Of course, if you have no other option.

 

[mom2connorandcaleb]

I am going to give you a recommendation which provides for very versatile rewards, but may not be ideal for your Disney vacation. I recommend each of you get a Chase Sapphire Preferred card. Right now, there's an offer for 80,000 Chase Ultimate Reward (URs) points for spending $4,000 in 3 months, $95 Annual Fee. Here's the steps:

1. Ideally, use a support link from someone here on Dischurners (you'll be invited if you aren't already a member) and open a card for P1 (player1).
2. Once that card is open, P1 creates a support link for the other spouse, and that spouse opens the same card, earning 20,000 UR support points.

Don't add each other as authorized users on each others cards- as that will limit the number of new cards you can open in a 24 month period. When applying, you may use "household income" as your income, so your personal income level won't be relevant.

The above steps will earn you these URs:

80,000 P1 card
4,000 P1 spending $4,000 and earning at least 1point/$1
20,000 support points
80,000 P2 card
4,000 P2 spending $4,000 and earning at least 1point/$1
--------------
188.000 points

The problem with Chase points is that you can't use those points to purchase Disney tickets or book Disney properties. You could however use it to book hotels near Disney through the portal. If you use the portal, each point is worth 1.25 cents, so 188,000 points would be worth $2350! And you can combine URs within the same household, so you can essentially pool your points together to making booking easier.

There are also Pay Yourself Back categories, which is essentially using points to erase the purchase cost. Right now for the CSP, those categories are AirBNB and dining. So if you spend a lot in those categories, you can erase $2350 using those 188,000 points. Some people will mentally take that savings from their everyday dining spend, and then apply that towards their Disney tickets. Hope that makes sense. Feel free to ask more questions.

Are there only certain hotels that chase points can be used for? Is there a list for this somewhere?