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

[hsmamato2]

A little OT but..... I thought SWA had a policy regarding passengers of size in the past...(I'm not denigrating anyone of a larger size,I'm hardly tiny myself here) But wasn't there a policy that folks who needed a bigger seat could get two seats for their ticket? The past two flights I was on last week, I'm not sure what happened but there seemed to be no policy or assistance with this sort of thing....And if you happened to be that passenger jammed in between two people who couldn't fit, is that a cause to reach out to SWA and ask for flight refunds? I'm not looking for trouble here but this issue clearly exists- what is the policy now? On a 100% full flight, this can become a real problem. I know it's gotta be uncomfortable all around in so many ways...

 

[reliev]

A little OT but..... I thought SWA had a policy regarding passengers of size in the past...(I'm not denigrating anyone of a larger size,I'm hardly tiny myself here) But wasn't there a policy that folks who needed a bigger seat could get two seats for their ticket? The past two flights I was on last week, I'm not sure what happened but there seemed to be no policy or assistance with this sort of thing....And if you happened to be that passenger jammed in between two people who couldn't fit, is that a cause to reach out to SWA and ask for flight refunds? I'm not looking for trouble here but this issue clearly exists- what is the policy now? On a 100% full flight, this can become a real problem. I know it's gotta be uncomfortable all around in so many ways...

I would the worse if they can say no.

 

[elgerber]

Ugh, P2 applied for 2nd CIC (holds 2 CIU and 1 CIC) of course, got the "we need more time message" . I need a card now LOL

 

[Jax1023]

Can someone remind me what the minimum credit limit for chase business cards is? I want to decrease mine so I can apply for a new card next week.

Do we even think holding 5 open chase business cards is a possibility?

 

[DisMommyTX]

I'm sorry all around for that situation

But you would be a good DP you know the Chase grace period limit. In the past Chase unofficially gave 115 days to meet spend. It wasn't advertised but well known and confirmed in SMs if you asked for your spend date. Around when they added the spend tracker to cards that showed a strict 90 days, even sending aSM was met with a 90 date. However, people would still get the bonus if they were a little over. Off the top of my head, I think 101 days was confirmed successful after that. (I want to say 109 but not confident in that number without research) So it was assumed that 115 might still be in play. But if you calculate your days from approval to MSR completed we could get a better idea where the grace period ends (if it's still in place, which I think it might be)

It looks like the final charge to hit $4000 msr posted 120 days after application date. It was charged 111 days after the card was activated/first used. I'll let you know...

 

[ten6mom]

Capital One shopping offers question:

I already have a (cash) stay booked at a Best Western for an upcoming DL trip in October. The hotel is now sold out for those dates, so there is no chance of canceling and rebooking.

There is an offer in the Capital One shopping area, but since I just got the card I did not book it through that portal.

Does anyone know, if I pay with my Cap One card (which I will do anyway), will I still get the 9% back even though I didn't make the reservation with that card originally?

 

[ten6mom]

Can someone remind me what the minimum credit limit for chase business cards is? I want to decrease mine so I can apply for a new card next week.

Do we even think holding 5 open chase business cards is a possibility?

I don't know about the credit limit but we can we can prove that 5 are a possibility!

 

[djmeredith]

I am now planning a trip to Hawaii for next summer and I am experiencing sticker shock. I know several of you have recently gone to HI or are currently planning a trip. I would appreciate any advice on saving money and/or using points. I used up most of my points on my Europe trip. I am starting with some Hilton points (enough for 3-4 nts) and I have a little less than 100K MRs. I also have a very small amount of Bonvoy points. I am 5/24 until September 15. Then I will have another spot open up on Oct. 3.

I had planned on using those spots to churn my CP, but now I am thinking I would rather have more MRs or URs to help with flights on Delta or United. That would allow me to hopefully get biz class at least 1 way. Hawaiian Airlines is not a good option for me because the positioning flights will add 1 day each way. Delta and United seem to be my best options. Southwest is still an option to HI, but I really wanted to fly biz class at least one way as a surprise for my nephew.

Here are my cards over the past 24 months:
Sept 2020 CFF
Oct 2020 Marriott Bonvoy Biz
Jan 2021 SW Performance (closed)
June 2021 CSR (MDD) - PC'd to CFU
June 2021 CSP (MDD)
Oct 2021 Am Ex Hilton Biz
Jan 2022 CIC
April 2022 CIU
June 2022 AmEx Gold

I also have 2 additional players I can probably count on to help me get pts over the next few months. I guess my goals are points for Delta, United, Hyatt and/or Marriott, but I'm open to any suggestions. I know I will have to pay cash for some flights/rooms, but I want to try to maximize use of rewards. Any suggestions or booking tips are greatly appreciated!

 

[MinnesoTristan]

I would call again. In 30+ years of credit card payments, I would hate to add up how many late fees I've had (it probably averages about 1 per year) and I have never not had one reversed.

Thanks, Amy Anne! I called Monday, Thursday, and Saturday, plus online chat on Thursday. I was given a different answer each time, and the last rep I spoke to even used the wrong pronouns with me. I’m incredibly disappointed with Amex and I am downgrading to Blue and not paying them any more annual fees.

 

[GusGus16]

A little OT but..... I thought SWA had a policy regarding passengers of size in the past...(I'm not denigrating anyone of a larger size,I'm hardly tiny myself here) But wasn't there a policy that folks who needed a bigger seat could get two seats for their ticket? The past two flights I was on last week, I'm not sure what happened but there seemed to be no policy or assistance with this sort of thing....And if you happened to be that passenger jammed in between two people who couldn't fit, is that a cause to reach out to SWA and ask for flight refunds? I'm not looking for trouble here but this issue clearly exists- what is the policy now? On a 100% full flight, this can become a real problem. I know it's gotta be uncomfortable all around in so many ways...

Yes they still have the policy, my understanding is you have to buy a 2nd seat and then SW will reimburse you following the flight. I don't think it is a well known policy. I have one experience with it, a gentleman who was a football player, this was years ago and the flight attendants did a very good job of being discreet but also ensuring he had his two seats (last row of the plane). With full flights and SW open seating policy I could see how this is tricky. There were a couple people who wanted the seat next to him and the FA redirected them to a different seat, that flight was full as well. Just a bad situation for all. Off topic but I would recommend "What We Don't Talk About When We Talk About Fat", by Aubrey Gordon. Eye opening book, about fatphobia and she writes about an experience on a plane as a fat woman.

 

[becauseimnew]

Lately my OD has been a pain! We have the offer on 6 cards too, but my store now requires only the manager can run gc transactions (so the cashier calls over manager), and then the manager would only allow 1 gc per person (per day I guess? I haven't tried going back same day.)

So one store let me do 3 cards, the next store said 1 card. We have 5 more cards. Tomorrow I'm taking DH with me so we can at least hit up the 2 store again and be done (until the next round comes along)

Went to best buy but they didn't have variable loads, so we didn't get any I figured I would just buy them online but turns out you can only buy 2 digital GC ($50 and $25) at a time and no variable loads. ugh.

 

[mom2febgirls]

I recently got approved for a CIC. The limit is $5000 and I already put $2K on it. If I pay it off and use it to pay $5K toward my DDs tuition is that bad? The statement doesn't close until Sep 11 but tuition is due Sep 7.

Thanks

 

[becauseimnew]

A little OT but..... I thought SWA had a policy regarding passengers of size in the past...(I'm not denigrating anyone of a larger size,I'm hardly tiny myself here) But wasn't there a policy that folks who needed a bigger seat could get two seats for their ticket? The past two flights I was on last week, I'm not sure what happened but there seemed to be no policy or assistance with this sort of thing....And if you happened to be that passenger jammed in between two people who couldn't fit, is that a cause to reach out to SWA and ask for flight refunds? I'm not looking for trouble here but this issue clearly exists- what is the policy now? On a 100% full flight, this can become a real problem. I know it's gotta be uncomfortable all around in so many ways...

I know they have some sort of policy, because when we flew this summer there was a lady with 2 seats, she had an extra boarding pass that she put on the second seat, I believe the boarding pass said "seat occupied."

 

[becauseimnew]

I recently got approved for a CIC. The limit is $5000 and I already put $2K on it. If I pay it off and use it to pay $5K toward my DDs tuition is that bad? The statement doesn't close until Sep 11 but tuition is due Sep 7.

Thanks

Not bad at all. You can also move credit line from one business card to the other.

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

the ~8k was without the benefits pure points difference with the newer annual fee.
an additional fee of $155
Value of points without the 50$ credit $13.50
if you add the 5$ a month door dash 60$
if you add the instacart and use it $180 use it you are ahead. but considering the CSP is 5$ a month? you are actually at 120$ ahead then. they are only for this year that we know of it could go away but based on that. You are ahead without any spending at all. but let's say it goes away.
($95+ $13.50) / $0.02 = $5425) updated value I always get 2cpp
if you add the 10$ per day per rental we do about 2 weeks of car rental that's 140$ but now I've been doing Turo since it's cheaper. I know I'm old when pre covid you could get a midsize car for 40$ a day in most places!

Also, I never trust bloggers' values I always put my own because it's what I would pay. Would I pay 40$+ per person sometimes at Hyatt breakfast? maybe once in a while but 10$ per person yeah'd do that.

Totally agree on doing one's own calculations. We do use Doordash and will likely stay using the Instacart benefit, but I also thought those were not on the CSP. May reconsider there CSR next year when the AF hits

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

I'm going to downgrade DH's CSP and CSR (AF hit) since I kept my CSR another year. Have used up credits. He already has a FF so I'm thinking one of the cards will become a FU then... should the second be another FU or FF? I figured the no fee Sapphire didn't make sense and I like that the freedom cards get so many offers we can use for DGCs. Thoughts? I guess it doesn't matter?

 

[reliev]

Totally agree on doing one's own calculations. We do use Doordash and will likely stay using the Instacart benefit, but I also thought those were not on the CSP. May reconsider there CSR next year when the AF hits

from what i understand im sure i can google it but door dash is free not the credit.
And instacart is as follows

thats where I got the $5 from 15 per quarter.

 

[SleepyatDVC]

What website should I check out to teach how to research oneway airfare back from Europe? I have Chase URs I hope to use for upgrades.

Thinking of cruising over to Genoa, Italy from FL in May 2023 with a flexible return itinerary back to NY or FL around June 8th through 12th. Will visit whatever cities have the best return flights back to the states. Would prefer non-stop back to the States. I was looking at Milan right now. Looks like flying back to NY has the best options. Will then have to fly my daughter back to Orlando from NY. Not sure if I have enough for 4 business/first tickets but my 2 adult girls can always fly coach.

Can someone point me in the direction of the best place for dummies to start researching? Thanks!

 

[IFlossU]

I am now planning a trip to Hawaii for next summer and I am experiencing sticker shock. I know several of you have recently gone to HI or are currently planning a trip. I would appreciate any advice on saving money and/or using points. I used up most of my points on my Europe trip. I am starting with some Hilton points (enough for 3-4 nts) and I have a little less than 100K MRs. I also have a very small amount of Bonvoy points. I am 5/24 until September 15. Then I will have another spot open up on Oct. 3.

I had planned on using those spots to churn my CP, but now I am thinking I would rather have more MRs or URs to help with flights on Delta or United. That would allow me to hopefully get biz class at least 1 way. Hawaiian Airlines is not a good option for me because the positioning flights will add 1 day each way. Delta and United seem to be my best options. Southwest is still an option to HI, but I really wanted to fly biz class at least one way as a surprise for my nephew.

Here are my cards over the past 24 months:
Sept 2020 CFF
Oct 2020 Marriott Bonvoy Biz
Jan 2021 SW Performance (closed)
June 2021 CSR (MDD) - PC'd to CFU
June 2021 CSP (MDD)
Oct 2021 Am Ex Hilton Biz
Jan 2022 CIC
April 2022 CIU
June 2022 AmEx Gold

I also have 2 additional players I can probably count on to help me get pts over the next few months. I guess my goals are points for Delta, United, Hyatt and/or Marriott, but I'm open to any suggestions. I know I will have to pay cash for some flights/rooms, but I want to try to maximize use of rewards. Any suggestions or booking tips are greatly appreciated!

In your situation I would first try to put together an itinerary. Which island or islands are you going to, and the time of year etc. Once you’ve established which island(s) you want to visit start looking at ALL the different hotel properties. Personally I love Maui because I can book a condo with Hyatt points, and there are many to choose from. We’ve also stayed at The Grand Wailea, which was great. After you have a rough idea of when to go, where to go, and accommodations that appeal to you then figure out how to get those points. It sounds like both the Chase and Amex business cards would be great for you. That of course depends on your ability to hit the MSR. I would look for possibly the Biz Platinum or Biz Gold, and another Ink card. With ample MR’s and UR’s you can put together a great trip by using transfer partners.

 

[IFlossU]

What website should I check out to teach how to research oneway airfare back from Europe? I have Chase URs I hope to use for upgrades.

Thinking of cruising over to Genoa, Italy from FL in May 2023 with a flexible return itinerary back to NY or FL around June 8th through 12th. Will visit whatever cities have the best return flights back to the states. Would prefer non-stop back to the States. I was looking at Milan right now. Looks like flying back to NY has the best options. Will then have to fly my daughter back to Orlando from NY. Not sure if I have enough for 4 business/first tickets but my 2 adult girls can always fly coach.

Can someone point me in the direction of the best place for dummies to start researching? Thanks!

The easiest place for me to start is Google flights.