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

[reliev]

Thanks!

Interesting - I don't see anything about a $5,000 limit. I'm not really sure why my bank does that I guess.

its because they don't want you to leave boa did the same thing to me after they kept charging me fees years ago took me a few months I cant remember the limit back then.

 

[disneybirds]

Oh good luck to you! Hope you get them! I didn’t register for Paris because the dates weren’t going to work for me. Would have preferred a UK show but a weekend in Germany should be fun.

I wasn't able to get the tickets. They had 4 separate nights that you could book. The night that I tried, I was too far back in the queue and it was sold out by the time I was able to get in. I tried again the next night, but then it said that I didn't have confirmed email? I know the girls would have liked to go, but now I can actually start planning our trip next summer.

 

[Zhoen]

Hiya, Dis-ies!!!

I have to go to a wedding in Kansas City the weekend of September 23rd, it will be kind of a whirlwind for us, since H's schedule is tight. We are arriving Friday afternoon, wedding Saturday, Fly back Sunday afternoon... Flights are already locked in.

Right now we are leaning towards an Embassy Suites near the venue, at about $180/night. (I like free breakfasts, H likes the afternoon booze, pool for the teenagers, and a door we can close between our king-sized bed and their double sofa-bed.)

I was thinking about putting the rental car on my CSP to trigger the $50 credit, then putting the hotel on our newest Ink to work on the MSR... H has a HHonors account, I think, so we would link to that... probably book on a travel site through rakuten... I had a question of whether I could reserve the hotel with our CC, then pay for it with VGCs I grab at Staples during the fee-free promotions (for the 5% URs.)

Any other tricks I should be aware of?

(FWIW, I did check out the IHG specials going on right now, but I'd rather pay the extra $40-ish a night and have a door between me and the kids...)

Any advice would be appreciated... we are very very new at this

 

[leeniewdw]

We did just buy another car, and were going to pay cash, but they gave us 0% for 3 years. Um, yes please. Now I can leave our money where it is, earning interest for once.

We have a new car search on our agenda in September. We can pay cash, but a 0% would be tempting. Do you mind saying what car maker offered that?

On a diff topic, we just checked into a Kimpton in Charlotte for the night (seeing Maggie Rogers tonight) and I used the secret phrase “No shade” and they brought out a wheel to spin. I got “pick your prize” and I picked the $50 incidental credit. We already got a $10 incidental due to DH being Platinum (opted for that over 600 IHG pts). So we’ve got $60 in incidentals and found a plate of cookies and sparkling water in our room. We used points for this night, so getting the extras was very nice for this quick trip. So maybe a drink on our way out & something to eat in the morning!

(We also took the train from Raleigh, and used the 50% off fares due to some NC promo in July, so only $52 for both of us round trip.).

 

[calypso726]

I wasn't able to get the tickets. They had 4 separate nights that you could book. The night that I tried, I was too far back in the queue and it was sold out by the time I was able to get in. I tried again the next night, but then it said that I didn't have confirmed email? I know the girls would have liked to go, but now I can actually start planning our trip next summer.

Aw I’m sorry to hear that. But on to bigger and brighter summer plans!

 

[IFlossU]

DH got an instant approval for an Amex Biz Gold, 130K MRs plus I should get some for the referral. Just in time to pay our property taxes!

Keep an eye out in the upcoming months for an upgrade offer to a Biz Plat. 6 months after DH and I both received the 130k Biz gold we received upgrade offers 140k MR/$10k spend. We both took the offer, and we both continue to receive NLL offers on both Biz Plats and Golds. Can’t spend the money fast enough. Anyway I thought 140k/10k spend was awesome for a Biz Plat.

 

[wanderlust7]

I

Hiya, Dis-ies!!!

I have to go to a wedding in Kansas City the weekend of September 23rd, it will be kind of a whirlwind for us, since H's schedule is tight. We are arriving Friday afternoon, wedding Saturday, Fly back Sunday afternoon... Flights are already locked in.

Right now we are leaning towards an Embassy Suites near the venue, at about $180/night. (I like free breakfasts, H likes the afternoon booze, pool for the teenagers, and a door we can close between our king-sized bed and their double sofa-bed.)

I was thinking about putting the rental car on my CSP to trigger the $50 credit, then putting the hotel on our newest Ink to work on the MSR... H has a HHonors account, I think, so we would link to that... probably book on a travel site through rakuten... I had a question of whether I could reserve the hotel with our CC, then pay for it with VGCs I grab at Staples during the fee-free promotions (for the 5% URs.)

Any other tricks I should be aware of?

(FWIW, I did check out the IHG specials going on right now, but I'd rather pay the extra $40-ish a night and have a door between me and the kids...)

Any advice would be appreciated... we are very very new at this

Unfortunately, you can't use the CSP $50 credit for rental cars, only hotels through the portal.

 

[EACarlson]

Hiya, Dis-ies!!!

I have to go to a wedding in Kansas City the weekend of September 23rd, it will be kind of a whirlwind for us, since H's schedule is tight. We are arriving Friday afternoon, wedding Saturday, Fly back Sunday afternoon... Flights are already locked in.

Right now we are leaning towards an Embassy Suites near the venue, at about $180/night. (I like free breakfasts, H likes the afternoon booze, pool for the teenagers, and a door we can close between our king-sized bed and their double sofa-bed.)

I was thinking about putting the rental car on my CSP to trigger the $50 credit, then putting the hotel on our newest Ink to work on the MSR... H has a HHonors account, I think, so we would link to that... probably book on a travel site through rakuten... I had a question of whether I could reserve the hotel with our CC, then pay for it with VGCs I grab at Staples during the fee-free promotions (for the 5% URs.)

Any other tricks I should be aware of?

(FWIW, I did check out the IHG specials going on right now, but I'd rather pay the extra $40-ish a night and have a door between me and the kids...)

Any advice would be appreciated... we are very very new at this

CSP credit is only on hotels booked through the Chase Portal. Booking through a portal pretty much guarantees you won't get any credit into or out of the HHonors account. Whether you'd be able to pay the folio with VGC is going to be dependent on the skill and level of care the FD person has at their job and only if you book direct through Hilton. Personally I would probably book the two nights on the CSP and take the roughly 600UR after the $50 credit. Unless you have a Hilton card, then I would use that.

 

[iujen94]

Keep an eye out in the upcoming months for an upgrade offer to a Biz Plat. 6 months after DH and I both received the 130k Biz gold we received upgrade offers 140k MR/$10k spend. We both took the offer, and we both continue to receive NLL offers on both Biz Plats and Golds. Can’t spend the money fast enough. Anyway I thought 140k/10k spend was awesome for a Biz Plat.

Dumb question but where do you see these upgrade offers? I see lots of talk about them but not sure where to look for them.

 

[orangecuse]

AA changed our flight by THREE HOURS and didn't even email us. I just logged into the app to confirm our reservation number to share with my parents and it said "there has been a change". YA THINK AA?! Meanwhile our return is on AA but booked via BA and they emailed me an apology over a 10 minute change.

This change brings up a few thoughts-

1. We may share a car with my parents now as our landing time is similar. Has anyone brought guests into the Centurion lounge? Easy process? My dad has lounge access to almost everywhere else so it'd be fun to get him in somewhere new.

2. I've had a plat in the past, but I do have an offer to upgrade my gold (25k MR for $2k spend/6 months so meh). I just paid the AF though. Will the plat AF prorate? Does this mess with my retention offer I accepted? Does it count against 5/24?

3.My husband has a plat already. If we both have plats, that should cover us plus our kids for the lounge right? Then I just buy guest passes for my parents?

 

[IFlossU]

Dumb question but where do you see these upgrade offers? I see lots of talk about them but not sure where to look for them.

Not a dumb question at all. Our offers showed up right on top of the login screen. Kind of a banner across the top of the page.

AA changed our flight by THREE HOURS and didn't even email us. I just logged into the app to confirm our reservation number to share with my parents and it said "there has been a change". YA THINK AA?! Meanwhile our return is on AA but booked via BA and they emailed me an apology over a 10 minute change.

This change brings up a few thoughts-

1. We may share a car with my parents now as our landing time is similar. Has anyone brought guests into the Centurion lounge? Easy process? My dad has lounge access to almost everywhere else so it'd be fun to get him in somewhere new.

2. I've had a plat in the past, but I do have an offer to upgrade my gold (25k MR for $2k spend/6 months so meh). I just paid the AF though. Will the plat AF prorate? Does this mess with my retention offer I accepted? Does it count against 5/24?

3.My husband has a plat already. If we both have plats, that should cover us plus our kids for the lounge right? Then I just buy guest passes for my parents?

Amex changed their guest policy earlier this year. You now only get to bring guests for free if you’ve spent $75,000 on the card…in a year. Oof! Aside from that guests will now cost $50 per adult and $30 per child for kids 2-17. So you and your DH can go in for free as individual card holders, but guests are going to cost you.

If you you take the upgrade offer, which I agree is meh, they will prorate the AF, it should stack with a retention offer, and no it won’t count towards 5/24 as it’s not a new account.

 

[iujen94]

Not a dumb question at all. Our offers showed up right on top of the login screen. Kind of a banner across the top of the page.

how about this one…is this in the app or on a browser? I almost always use the app and wonder if I’m missing out on some goodies by not checking in on a browser more often.

 

[lsutigers03]

Keep an eye out in the upcoming months for an upgrade offer to a Biz Plat. 6 months after DH and I both received the 130k Biz gold we received upgrade offers 140k MR/$10k spend. We both took the offer, and we both continue to receive NLL offers on both Biz Plats and Golds. Can’t spend the money fast enough. Anyway I thought 140k/10k spend was awesome for a Biz Plat.

How much spend did you put on the biz gold after meeting the MSR?

 

[IFlossU]

how about this one…is this in the app or on a browser? I almost always use the app and wonder if I’m missing out on some goodies by not checking in on a browser more often.

Like you I typically only use the app. I will say I saw the offers logging in from desktop. So now I do periodically check on my PC. Don’t often login with the browser from my phone.

How much spend did you put on the biz gold after meeting the MSR?

$0 or close to it. Haha

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

what is best practice for locking unused cc's?

For me, there are cards I know I am going to sock drawer, then close at the 1 year point. Those are the ones I toggle to off.

All I can add to this discussion is my own experience..... Paid off our 15 yr mortgage in Oct 2021- great rate of 3.25.... payment wasn't high at all, we could easily swing it on our income. I just had a voice inside my head telling me to pay it off ASAP. I had other options- I could play around with the extra income I had (invest it,etc) but this voice wouldn't go away. So I hit it HARD that year from 2020-2021,pandemic provided extra checks (remember those?) and finished 8 years early. Now I know that voice inside my head was a warning,my P2 wasn't well,and altho it took quite a while to fully realize, he was unable to work as of Jan '22. Just flat out stop.
P2 was our sole income prior to this- and thru all the difficulties, the one thing I was glad about was that I no longer had to worry about that payment,or a roof over our heads. (It was the one thing I got right for sure)
I personally feel that being a certain age made me start thinking about the possibility of life changes,which are inevitable with age anyway,ours was just an extreme example.
Now that things in my life are settling down a bit,I'm still not sorry I paid off my home.

I couldn’t agree with this more. We also paid off our mortgage 4-5 years ago and the mental freedom is huge. Life-changing, actually.

 

[havaneselover]

All I can add to this discussion is my own experience..... Paid off our 15 yr mortgage in Oct 2021- great rate of 3.25.... payment wasn't high at all, we could easily swing it on our income. I just had a voice inside my head telling me to pay it off ASAP. I had other options- I could play around with the extra income I had (invest it,etc) but this voice wouldn't go away. So I hit it HARD that year from 2020-2021,pandemic provided extra checks (remember those?) and finished 8 years early. Now I know that voice inside my head was a warning,my P2 wasn't well,and altho it took quite a while to fully realize, he was unable to work as of Jan '22. Just flat out stop.
P2 was our sole income prior to this- and thru all the difficulties, the one thing I was glad about was that I no longer had to worry about that payment,or a roof over our heads. (It was the one thing I got right for sure)
I personally feel that being a certain age made me start thinking about the possibility of life changes,which are inevitable with age anyway,ours was just an extreme example.
Now that things in my life are settling down a bit,I'm still not sorry I paid off my home.

I hear you. It depends on your risk tolerance. On average, long-term I'll be far better off investing the balance of my mortgage and continuing to pay it monthly since the expected return on my portfolio is so much higher than 2%. The idea of being 100% debt free is super appealing to me, though. Nothing irrational about either of our preferences.

 

[reliev]

I hear you. It depends on your risk tolerance. On average, long-term I'll be far better off investing the balance of my mortgage and continuing to pay it monthly since the expected return on my portfolio is so much higher than 2%. The idea of being 100% debt free is super appealing to me, though. Nothing irrational about either of our preferences.

if bilt actually allows you to pay your mortgage with a credit card like the rumors that might entice me to max out that offer (i want to say its 50-100k points)

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

I hear you. It depends on your risk tolerance. On average, long-term I'll be far better off investing the balance of my mortgage and continuing to pay it monthly since the expected return on my portfolio is so much higher than 2%. The idea of being 100% debt free is super appealing to me, though. Nothing irrational about either of our preferences.

DH and I constantly have this debate, lol. We respect each other's preferences. I would rather invest more, he would rather pay more off our mortgage... we strike a balance and do some of both.

ETA: our interest rate is on the low side, 3.25%, which is why I would rather invest

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

if bilt actually allows you to pay your mortgage with a credit card like the rumors that might entice me to max out that offer (i want to say its 50-100k points)

Looks like it's hit or miss. I'm afraid to try it...

 

[reliev]

Looks like it's hit or miss. I'm afraid to try it...

same here I mean when it's official. also hard to pay off something when wealthfront is giving me more than double my mortgage interest rate.