I love credit cards so much! v6.0 - 2023 (see first page for add'l details)

[IFlossU]

Any thoughts about upgrading a Freedom to a CSR after downgrading? I downgraded my CSR to a Freedom last month but am regretting it. Would there be an issue if I upgraded now? I have several Freedom cards and could upgrade a different card than the one I downgraded, if that matters.

Probably best to upgrade one of your other Freedom cards. It must have a $10k credit limit though. Minimum for a CSR. However, they may allow you to shift credit from another card. I think it’s worth a phone call if you can get value from the CSR.

 

[KPK02090]

Made an in-branch appt for the chase sapphire preferred offer. I’m under 5/24. Anything else I need to be aware of? I assume this will be relatively painless?

Just did this today. I tried yesterday, but they were having system issues. So I decided to go back this morning and try again and was successful. It took 20-30 minutes. I currently have 3 open chase personal cards and 3 biz, so i was a little nervous he’d say something about how many cards I already had. He did say something along the lines of “I see you have quite a few cards..” to which I just said “uh huh” and that was it. I asked to have it expedited and he had to call to ask them to, but they said yes. Good luck!

 

[lsutigers03]

Any thoughts about upgrading a Freedom to a CSR after downgrading? I downgraded my CSR to a Freedom last month but am regretting it. Would there be an issue if I upgraded now? I have several Freedom cards and could upgrade a different card than the one I downgraded, if that matters.

Probably best to upgrade one of your other Freedom cards. It must have a $10k credit limit though. Minimum for a CSR. However, they may allow you to shift credit from another card. I think it’s worth a phone call if you can get value from the CSR.

I would also recommend using a different Freedom. If you don’t have one that has a $10k limit you can ask the rep to move credit from other cards when you call to PC. I had to do this when I PC’d a Freedom to a CSR because I try to keep my total Chase balance as low as possible.

 

[softballpooh]

They are 16 and 18 now, so they both need to basically start from scratch since they were under 16 when they got them.

So my daughter’s passport renews next March and she turns 16 this fall. Should I just let it expire and start her new one in the process? I didn’t realize that they have to start over at a certain age.

 

[sinnika]

Has anyone rented a car in Europe? Looking to rent one the week my DH arrives in Germany in May. We want to travel to Belgium and France. DD’s car is fine now, but with the new baby due any day, that would make 6 of us and their car only holds 5. I do have the $300 credit to use thru the Cap One travel site but it only shows Avis and Sixth as rental options in Germany. I was hoping to rent with Hertz since we can return the car to the base. . We are attempting to fly standby to BWI from Ramstein on May 9th on amilitary chartered flight. (One of the perks of DH being retired). Then SWA back to Houston. If we don’t get a seat, I’ve got commercial tickets for us to fly from Frankfurt nonstop to Houston on the 10th. Although DD’s home is only a 5 minute walk to the train station, I want to plan a trip to Bastogne, Bruges, Cologne, an American cemetery in France close to the German border and a few other places more accessible by car. Also planning a day river cruise from Rudesheim round trip to Lorelei. Lots of castles on that route. If the strikes and rioting continue in Paris, I may look at an alternate city where my friend who is visiting later this month can fly back to Houston (maybe Munich?). I’m very flexible when it comes to travel. Booking airfare and hotels on points works perfectly for my flexibility.

 

[disney-inspired]

So my daughter’s passport renews next March and she turns 16 this fall. Should I just let it expire and start her new one in the process? I didn’t realize that they have to start over at a certain age.

Yes, you should wait.

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

So my daughter’s passport renews next March and she turns 16 this fall. Should I just let it expire and start her new one in the process? I didn’t realize that they have to start over at a certain age.

Once you are legally 16 or older when issued, your passport is good for 10 years. Under 16 is only 5. Definitely wait!

 

[spacerangerqueen]

Time for spring financial cleaning. I need to close two bank accounts for DH - Citizen and PNC. I know with Citizen I have to call (Ughh). Does anyone know about PNC? Had an account about 2 years ago but I forget how I got them closed. Do I need to call or is there an SM option?

On the Chase front, my business points are stranded currently. I had the glitch where no cards showed up to transfer to. Now I see my cards but my CSR was compromised so I got a new number. I don't see a way to add that now to be able to transfer to. Is it a call or SM to get it added again?

I was able to close PNC and Citizens without calling. I believe Citizens has a chat function. PNC I think was SM.

 

[StephPlum]

I was able to close PNC and Citizens without calling. I believe Citizens has a chat function. PNC I think was SM.

Thanks. I’ll try on citizens. I know for some reason my account didn’t close until I called. Maybe a glitch.

 

[ten6mom]

My older son (18) was unable to get approved for a student credit card since he dropped out of school last fall. On the advice of this thread, he applied at our credit union where he has his own account and he was approved for his very own credit card! It's got a VERY low credit limit but he is super proud that he got it... they told him his credit score was right around 750, which I am sure is due to the fact that he's been an authorized user on my longest-open card (Chase Freedom).

So I just wanted to thank you all for all the advice and tips on getting my kid on his way to a good credit score.

Now for the 16 year old!

 

[calypso726]

I think it's important to consider more than that. Not sure who all was around but @calypso726 was able to use her ins to cover their flights back from Japan when they had to leave early due to a typhoon and they booked rt award flights to start and then bought the return in biz or f. This is part of why I put my coverage more in line with what it could cost in cash but not fully. But what if I do need to get home. Could I do it in economy, sure, do I have to, maybe not.

Also don't rememeber if/what she's said she used for determining her coverage amount. But it's not just cancelling or med emergencies that need to be considered. Not just typhoons but earthquakes that could impact places like Japan.

Wow! That was like 4 versions of this thread ago, October 2019. I found my original post from back then and have copied and pasted it below. We had purchased enough insurance coverage for the cost of the Japan ABD which was over $20,000 for the two of us and a cushion more as well in case we needed to ditch the ABD and fly back on cash due an emergency. The dates we chose included our pre ABD stays and post ABD stays, not just the duration of the ABD. Our ABD ended the day before we wound up flying out but we had planned to stay an extra 2 days at the parks until that Sunday. Had I purchased the insurance to only cover the ABD dates of the trip, we would have been stuck. In hindsight, that wouldn't have been so bad as things turned out. But at the time, we didn't know that. With the ABD behind us, we had $20k+ of insurance at our disposal. This allowed us to book the flights in business class which wound up being very beneficial beyond comfort due to what was happening at the airport when we arrived as explained below. It also allowed us to get to NY which at that time was the only flight I could find back to the US, cover a night in a hotel there and then fly back home the following day.

When I saw the typhoon was coming I was able to change our Sunday flight to Saturday. I was still trying to find flights out on Friday using miles with no success.

Then, my Saturday flight and all other flights on ANA or JAL were cancelled for the weekend. I read that over 1600 flights were cancelled. Once that happened, combined with the news reporting about a super typhoon that would be as strong as the one that killed 1200 people back in 1958 coming directly for us, I figured I shouldn’t have a problem with the trip insurance we purchased for the ABD covering an escape plan.

I found same day business class flights for Friday out of Narita (90 minutes away from the Tokyo Disneyland Hotel) with a 5 hour connection in Shanghai. We could make it if we left the hotel right away and it would allow a cushion of time to get there early and a buffer for whatever chaos would be happening at the airport. We called China Eastern to book but their ticket office was closed. So we booked it on Expedia. There’s a reason beyond being married to PlanePrincess that I chose business class seats and I will get to that in a bit. Also trip insurance helped with that decision too.

The airport bus transportation wasn’t due to arrive for another 40 minutes so we opted to take a cab. The cab was spacious and immaculate and the seats had what could best be described as fancy white doilies covering them. It was rather charming. I chalked it up to the universe providing me with much needed amusement during a rather stressful morning.

Our flight was for 1:50 pm and the check in counter for that flight was not going to open until 11 am. We made it there little after 10:30 am. I wanted to get there early because I wasn’t sure if we even really had tickets since we booked on Expedia. We only had a confirmation number nothing else. I didn’t know if the flight might be oversold due to all the cancellations. I also knew the airport might be in chaos.

The economy line for check in was already 50 deep. The business class line only had 2 people ahead of us. Since I don’t speak the language I am not sure what was happening while the agent was trying to get us boarding passes. It took forever. The agents on either side of us had a number of people check in get boarding passes and leave while we waited on pins and needles for our gate agent to issue boarding passes. Our agent not only made a phone call but she also had two different people come over to help. I was sweating bullets thinking our Expedia confirmation was not going to fly, no pun intended, and we wouldn’t get boarding passes or on the flight. After what seemed an eternity she was able to get them to issue and print.

We made our way to the lounge and eventually our flight to Shanghai. Thank goodness we had a 5 layover. Our flight sat on the tarmac for over an hour before being able to take off. I knew the airport would be a mess.

Once we arrived in Shanghai I called the MiraCosta and Disneyland hotel to cancel our next two nights. They said they’d refund us and then after much misunderstanding back and forth I was informed that my car keys were at the hotel. Sigh.

We were able to fastpass our way through security at PVG in their VIP line thanks to flying in business class. Good thing too because the other lines were super long.

Once we were sitting in the lounge we booked a one night stay at a Fairfield that included breakfast near JFK. We called to let them know we’d be arriving very late and to please add notes to the reservation about that and not give away the room. We also requested a late checkout and after explaining where we were coming from and why, they gave us a 4 pm checkout. Rather nice to say Bonvoy! and not to have been Bonvoyed.

We got to the hotel and I booked our flights back home for Saturday afternoon. So, I am getting back a day early. AA never sent me a flight cancellation notice. I got the alert from TripIt Pro. I had to call AA this evening and inform them that JAL cancelled our flight. They will be redepositing the miles and refunding the taxes and fees.

So under the circumstances I am glad we had trip insurance for our ABD. I am also glad that we had the coverage dates fixed for the entire trip, not just the ABD part of it. It’s definitely something to think about for international travel. I also realized how our penchant for using miles to book the comfy seats also has other perks beyond comfort.

 

[afan]

Wow! That was like 4 versions of this thread ago, October 2019.

I remember because it's what sold me on using that ins provider. I rarely read about people using the ins they purchase just about using cc trip delay coverage. They've also been great in changing dates or refunding me for the unused cancelled policy after I bought one for this year. They also suggested when I called the 1st time to add buffer days just in case since the length of the trip coverage doesn't change the price.

 

[Haley R]

Got ds’s passport in the mail today! So expedited took about 4 weeks

 

[mmmears]

Got ds’s passport in the mail today! So expedited took about 4 weeks

So glad it showed up. I know you've been waiting for it to arrive.

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

@georgina I’m fairly sure that you can tap your cc on transit in Amsterdam (I had to do it to get from one side of Centraal to the other, but n/c since I didn’t use a train). I don’t know the cost of each journey, but if you buy day tickets it may save you money. I paid 26 Euros for a 4 day pass good for trams and subways within the city — gets me wherever I need to go.

LOVE the College Hotel. They assigned me a super quiet room with shower only, just as requested. Staff is very nice and it seems nicer than the Sir Albert where I stayed last year, which is odd since it is a fair bit less expensive. It’s a bit further walk to the subway station, but I like walking, so it doesn’t bother me at all; there is a tram stop right in front of the hotel. Since it is a Marriott Autograph collection hotel I get free breakfast as a platinum, which is great. Also my room has individual climate control, so I set it as low as it can go. This may seem like a small thing but it’s the first hotel on the trip where I can set the temp!

I didn’t have plans today, so unpacked and headed to the 9 Streets area to wander around. Had an amazing dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant just outside of Centraal. While eating I saw what looked like swings on top of a building, so asked and turns out it is a lookout tower with swings on top. Enough for me — I took the free ferry over to the other side, walked to the tower, purchased a ticket to get up and another for the swing and off I went! There was a long line to get tickets for the tower and the swing tickets were originally sold out, but as I was approaching the desk to pay, 15 spots opened up, so I was able to get on after all! I am not a huge fan of swings, but it seemed like it was meant to be (and I do love adrenaline!)! It was fun, but since the motion of swings makes me nauseous it’s probably something that I wouldn’t do again. I do highly recommend this, but probably best to book in advance as the swing tickets do sell out!

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

Question for those familiar with JFK.

I land at 11:25am in T4 on Singapore Air. My flight home is from T7 with AC at 1:25pm. I have TSA Pre-check and won’t have any checked luggage. Is that enough time to make the connection? My only other option would be to catch a flight from LGA, in which case what would be the earliest flight to book? AC leaves almost every hour; I could book 4, 5 or 6pm. Just need to make sure that I get home as I leave on the 20th for NS with DS to pick dd up at school (she and I will fly home, ds will drive her car).

 

[chattadisser]

Question for those who have or have had kids in college (although this could be applicable to any family members I suppose) - DD will be going to college in the fall out of state and will most likely be traveling on Delta going back and forth. Is there anyway to get her free bags as part of a card? DH and I both have the Delta Plat and it gives us free bags but we were trying to figure out a way so she can get free bags when she's traveling alone. Doesn't look like making her an auth on that card would give her free bags.

 

[elgerber]

Question for those who have or have had kids in college (although this could be applicable to any family members I suppose) - DD will be going to college in the fall out of state and will most likely be traveling on Delta going back and forth. Is there anyway to get her free bags as part of a card? DH and I both have the Delta Plat and it gives us free bags but we were trying to figure out a way so she can get free bags when she's traveling alone. Doesn't look like making her an auth on that card would give her free bags.

I believe she would need her own card. The gold will work but there is an AF.

 

[georgina]

@georgina I’m fairly sure that you can tap your cc on transit in Amsterdam (I had to do it to get from one side of Centraal to the other, but n/c since I didn’t use a train). I don’t know the cost of each journey, but if you buy day tickets it may save you money. I paid 26 Euros for a 4 day pass good for trams and subways within the city — gets me wherever I need to go.

LOVE the College Hotel. They assigned me a super quiet room with shower only, just as requested. Staff is very nice and it seems nicer than the Sir Albert where I stayed last year, which is odd since it is a fair bit less expensive. It’s a bit further walk to the subway station, but I like walking, so it doesn’t bother me at all; there is a tram stop right in front of the hotel. Since it is a Marriott Autograph collection hotel I get free breakfast as a platinum, which is great. Also my room has individual climate control, so I set it as low as it can go. This may seem like a small thing but it’s the first hotel on the trip where I can set the temp!

I didn’t have plans today, so unpacked and headed to the 9 Streets area to wander around. Had an amazing dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant just outside of Centraal. While eating I saw what looked like swings on top of a building, so asked and turns out it is a lookout tower with swings on top. Enough for me — I took the free ferry over to the other side, walked to the tower, purchased a ticket to get up and another for the swing and off I went! There was a long line to get tickets for the tower and the swing tickets were originally sold out, but as I was approaching the desk to pay, 15 spots opened up, so I was able to get on after all! I am not a huge fan of swings, but it seemed like it was meant to be (and I do love adrenaline!)! It was fun, but since the motion of swings makes me nauseous it’s probably something that I wouldn’t do again. I do highly recommend this, but probably best to book in advance as the swing tickets do sell out!

View attachment 752186View attachment 752186

Looks a little scary!

 

[lsutigers03]

I was able to close PNC and Citizens without calling. I believe Citizens has a chat function. PNC I think was SM.

Do you happen to remember how to SM with PNC? I have two accounts I would like to close but I haven't found that option.