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

[Judique]

Just a quick note to say my Hilton Gift card was credited with the $50 for the quarterly Surpass offer. Bought the gift card using the link on the Hilton.com website, near bottom of page. Paid 1.95 s&h.

Purchased Dec 13, credit Dec 22nd.

Also, 12x points!

 

[hsmamato2]

Also- has anyone successfully tried to use 2 cc's to pay for airline tickets? I'd like to work on my ink MSR, but my CSR has the travel protection.... altho should I worry about that if I intend to buy extra travel insurance for this too?

Again,any thoughts on this? Should I be using my csr or can I go ahead and use my ink if I'm gonna buy insurance on the entire trip?

 

[havaneselover]

Just a quick note to say my Hilton Gift card was credited with the $50 for the quarterly Surpass offer. Bought the gift card using the link on the Hilton.com website, near bottom of page. Paid 1.95 s&h.

Purchased Dec 13, credit Dec 22nd.

Also, 12x points!

Mine credited after nine days too. These should work well for me since sometimes I travel on points but have to pay for my dogs to stay with me.

 

[afan]

Again,any thoughts on this? Should I be using my csr or can I go ahead and use my ink if I'm gonna buy insurance on the entire trip?

You'd have to pick one card or the other, I don't think any airline let's you split a payment except with their gc. That would be the way to do it but I don't know which airline you are booking.

Also depends on what kind of travel insurance you're getting. If it covers all the same stuff, including trip delay and lost baggage, then I'd make it simple and use the ink.

 

[hsmamato2]

You'd have to pick one card or the other, I don't think any airline let's you split a payment except with their gc. That would be the way to do it but I don't know which airline you are booking.

Also depends on what kind of travel insurance you're getting. If it covers all the same stuff, including trip delay and lost baggage, then I'd make it simple and use the ink.

Thanks

 

[djmeredith]

Big (for me) trip in April or May 2025. It will be 2 weeks in Switzerland and Italy. Starting with planning for Italy where I'll be splitting a week between Rome and Florence.

1. Any recommendations on hotels in Rome? I'll have points and FNCs for Marriott and IHG but willing to do something else for a good trip. If not a hotel, what general area to stay in? I want to have one home base for 4 nights. Will visit Vatican museums/Sistine Chapel/St Peters; Roman Forum, Colosseum and surrounding area; Pantheon, Spanish steps, Trevi Fountain,..

2. Any recommendations for small tours? so far I am looking at MyRomanGuy and CityWonders for tours of Vatican Museums/SC/StP. Probably will also do a tour of Colosseum and underground.

3. Any tips for a first timer?

4. Florence seems easier but welcome any thoughts there. I did read WDWGroupie's trip report and got some good ideas.

I went to Rome in August 2022. We stayed at Margutta 19, a Hyatt boutique hotel. I really liked it, but I used pts to get the Classic Suite room. I saw a regular guest room through an open door and it looked pretty small. Great location with nice and helpful staff. It is on a very quiet street. There are several Marriott choices in Rome if I remember correctly, not sure about IHG. You can definitely stay in the same spot for 4 nts and see everything you want to see. You can use the subway and Uber to get everywhere you want to go. We also used the rental scooters a few times, but I know those aren't for everyone.

For the Colosseum tour, I splurged and used Exploro Tours for a private tour that included the underground. I also splurged and did the Vatican after hours tour with a "private" Sistine Chapel viewing and a wine and cheese reception after. It was a guided tour of the Vatican museums for 1-1.5 hrs (can't remember how long) before it closed. When it closed, we went to the Sistine Chapel. It's advertised as private, but there were maybe 4-5 other small groups in there. Still a very small amt of people compared to touring during regular hrs. Then the wine and cheese reception in the Pine Cone garden was nice. I would do that again even though the Vatican Museums tour got a little boring at times.

 

[LilSweetPeaPhoto]

Merry Christmas to all of those that celebrate. I was going to come on here and ask people if you got the credit for the Hilton GC. Mine hasn't posted yet, so I haven't had my mom buy one yet. If she buys one tomorrow, and if it's taking the 9 days to credit does that credit go towards the next quarter? She was asking me why she renewed the card this year. I told her well you can get hilton giftcards. She's like well when am I going to stay at at Hilton. I'm like, when you go visit family you always do, LOL.

We just went through security at the airport and the precheck line was so much longer than the normal lines. We ended up switching and went through the normal line with no wait

I have said it's getting ridiculous! There was an article about how precheck and Clear people are getting really upset with the length of the lines.

That's interesting. Years back, I had not purchased Pre-Check. I didn't realize that sometimes you are randomly assigned Pre-Check for a particular flight even if you have not purchased it.

I didn't look closely at my boarding pass to see if it said Pre-Check because I wasn't expecting to be allowed to get Pre-Check. I got in the regular line at the airport because I didn't realize that I had been assigned Pre-Check for that flight. When I got to the front of the line, the TSA agent was very unpleasant and told me I had to get out of the regular line and go in the Pre-Check line because that's what was on my boarding pass. This was at the local airport, not Orlando.

I've been told I had to use the precheck line before too....I don't remember where I was now, LOL.

I got my $150 today from supporting my son. Honestly I didn't think it would ever come, since the ended the deal right after. I hope he gets his too for buying his phone.

I just checked and I got $202. So am I understanding this right? I can get a $200 GC? When I got to redeem it looks like I can get $200

Just a quick note to say my Hilton Gift card was credited with the $50 for the quarterly Surpass offer. Bought the gift card using the link on the Hilton.com website, near bottom of page. Paid 1.95 s&h.

Purchased Dec 13, credit Dec 22nd.

Also, 12x points!

I'm hoping mine posts soon. I bought mine on the 20th I think, and I got the card this weekend.

 

[Alexle2007]

DH has been hitting Casino Royale when we have been cruising RCCL. Thanks to his efforts we are headed to Italy for 7 night to the Greek Isles and Adriatic cruise in June in a balcony room for $863 for 3 of us. The cruise leaves out of Ravenna. Any pointers for Venice (where to stay or what to do), getting to Ravenna? We have stops in Montenegro, Zadar, Athens and Santorini. Any suggestions for excursions? So excited to be returning to Europe to celebrate DS’s graduation.

 

[Tink3815]

I received a 10% code on my Southwest Visa for Sams Club online only. Has anyone used this offer to purchase Disney Gift cards at a small discount that Sams Club Offers?

 

[wannabee]

I bought my Hilton gift card on 12/13 and it credited 12/22

 

[Judique]

Mine credited after nine days too. These should work well for me since sometimes I travel on points but have to pay for my dogs to stay with me.

Since I have the 1 fnc plus the 130k+ points, I'm hoping to do a Hilton that is really up there in cost in summer plus has several decent dining options. By April I should have 3 of the $50 cards. Maybe 4 by early July. I got my credit card middle of July so if it follows the same pattern, I would have my $50 on the card to be used in the hotel plus $150 in gift cards. The rooms are suites with separate bedroom, balcony and living area that can sleep up to 6, so a possible good choice for me and my DD's plus grands.

 

[Best Aunt]

I don't pay my property tax with a credit card because my municipality charges a fee if you do that. I'm not happy about losing out on the frequent flyer miles, but I refuse to pay with a card if I will be charged a fee.

I read somewhere that I could use Paypal's Billpay feature to pay property tax. As long as I don't have a credit sitting in Paypal, the charge would go through the credit card I have affiliated with Paypal, and I would get the frequent flyer miles that way.

So my questions are:

(a) Can any bill be payed through Paypal's Billpay feature?
I don't know if the municipality can refuse to be paid that way.

(b) Is it possible that the municipality will charge a fee for paying through Paypal Billpay?

(c) Are there any downsides that I'm not thinking of?

I know I can contact the municipality, but I wanted to get info from you guys first.

 

[jenmsmith]

I received a 10% code on my Southwest Visa for Sams Club online only. Has anyone used this offer to purchase Disney Gift cards at a small discount that Sams Club Offers?

I have!

 

[Judique]

I received a 10% code on my Southwest Visa for Sams Club online only. Has anyone used this offer to purchase Disney Gift cards at a small discount that Sams Club Offers?

I'm getting ready to check my Sam's account to see what price the cards are right now.

Checked and it looks like the $50 card gives you $2.02 off. Combined with the 10%, buy 5 x $50 or 47.98 x5 = 239.90. which will return you $23.99 (max back on my Chase card is 24.00) plus whatever points you get for the purchase. My offer is on a Chase ink card at 1 and 1/2%. So, bottom line almost = 23.99 + 10.10 = 34.09+ value of your credit card points so roughly 14% discount.

The other denominations were close but a penny or two less.

 

[babyready]

Just a quick note to say my Hilton Gift card was credited with the $50 for the quarterly Surpass offer. Bought the gift card using the link on the Hilton.com website, near bottom of page. Paid 1.95 s&h.

Purchased Dec 13, credit Dec 22nd.

Also, 12x points!

Thanks for posting, I went to check mine and it was exactly the same. Card purchased the 13th, credited the 22nd.

 

[iujen94]

I don't pay my property tax with a credit card because my municipality charges a fee if you do that. I'm not happy about losing out on the frequent flyer miles, but I refuse to pay with a card if I will be charged a fee.

I read somewhere that I could use Paypal's Billpay feature to pay property tax. As long as I don't have a credit sitting in Paypal, the charge would go through the credit card I have affiliated with Paypal, and I would get the frequent flyer miles that way.

So my questions are:

(a) Can any bill be payed through Paypal's Billpay feature?
I don't know if the municipality can refuse to be paid that way.

(b) Is it possible that the municipality will charge a fee for paying through Paypal Billpay?

(c) Are there any downsides that I'm not thinking of?

I know I can contact the municipality, but I wanted to get info from you guys first.

Yes! I discovered the PayPal bill pay trick on this board a couple of years ago, and it is awesome! Not every municipality accepts PayPal Bill Pay. To find out, go to the PayPal app, click Payments at the bottom and then Bills at the top. Search for your taxing authority and voila! As you alluded to, I do always make sure to move any PayPal balance I may have to my bank account to make sure that doesn’t get used instead of my underlying credit card.

I will also say that some vendors are on PayPal bill pay but don’t accept payment by credit card - you have to use PayPal balance or your linked bank account. Honda and Volkswagen are both like this. You can find out by going through the motions of making a payment until you get to the part where you pick your payment method.

 

[palhockeymomof2]

I don't pay my property tax with a credit card because my municipality charges a fee if you do that. I'm not happy about losing out on the frequent flyer miles, but I refuse to pay with a card if I will be charged a fee.

I read somewhere that I could use Paypal's Billpay feature to pay property tax. As long as I don't have a credit sitting in Paypal, the charge would go through the credit card I have affiliated with Paypal, and I would get the frequent flyer miles that way.

So my questions are:

(a) Can any bill be payed through Paypal's Billpay feature?
I don't know if the municipality can refuse to be paid that way.

(b) Is it possible that the municipality will charge a fee for paying through Paypal Billpay?

(c) Are there any downsides that I'm not thinking of?

I know I can contact the municipality, but I wanted to get info from you guys first.

My municipality charges a cc fee as well…I did look on PayPal bill pay and it’s not listed so not all bills can be paid that way

 

[Judique]

I don't pay my property tax with a credit card because my municipality charges a fee if you do that. I'm not happy about losing out on the frequent flyer miles, but I refuse to pay with a card if I will be charged a fee.

I read somewhere that I could use Paypal's Billpay feature to pay property tax. As long as I don't have a credit sitting in Paypal, the charge would go through the credit card I have affiliated with Paypal, and I would get the frequent flyer miles that way.

So my questions are:

(a) Can any bill be payed through Paypal's Billpay feature?
I don't know if the municipality can refuse to be paid that way.

(b) Is it possible that the municipality will charge a fee for paying through Paypal Billpay?

(c) Are there any downsides that I'm not thinking of?

I know I can contact the municipality, but I wanted to get info from you guys first.

My area does not accept Paypal. They spell out the fees and what they take on the website.

I just app'd for a new card and charged the whole thing, paying a 2.45% fee. The sign up bonus was $900 and maybe a $100ish went to the fee, so win in my book. I'll plan better next year and find the 'best' card to use.

 

[570traveler]

I'm getting ready to check my Sam's account to see what price the cards are right now.

Checked and it looks like the $50 card gives you $2.02 off. Combined with the 10%, buy 5 x $50 or 47.98 x5 = 239.90. which will return you $23.99 (max back on my Chase card is 24.00) plus whatever points you get for the purchase. My offer is on a Chase ink card at 1 and 1/2%. So, bottom line almost = 23.99 + 10.10 = 34.09+ value of your credit card points so roughly 14% discount.

The other denominations were close but a penny or two less.

I’ve also used the offer. But I believe you’re limited to 2 of each kind of card Sam’s sells. I purchased a combination of $500 and split payment between 2 cards that had the 10% back offer. So I got $500 for $433.88

 

[leeniewdw]

I also decided not to churn my CSR this year. I PC’d to CSP instead. Too many other better SUB deals out there. I also can’t believe I’m saying this but I might keep my Amex plat. I thought for sure I’d get rid of it after a year but now I’ve had it for several years. Will cancel the Hilton biz and the personal gold soon (unless I get a good retention offer on that one).

I'm on my 2nd year with the Amex Plat figuring I'd not keep it, but a month or so ago I added up my credits and offers used and already came out ahead of the high fee. I had a 150k MR offer when I got it in 2022 and even though I don't feel like I used it that much this year, I've ended up with about 60k in MRs because of offers. I'm sure I'll wince in June when it hits my card, but I think I'm going to keep.

I don't pay my property tax with a credit card because my municipality charges a fee if you do that. I'm not happy about losing out on the frequent flyer miles, but I refuse to pay with a card if I will be charged a fee.

I read somewhere that I could use Paypal's Billpay feature to pay property tax. As long as I don't have a credit sitting in Paypal, the charge would go through the credit card I have affiliated with Paypal, and I would get the frequent flyer miles that way.

So my questions are:

(a) Can any bill be payed through Paypal's Billpay feature?
I don't know if the municipality can refuse to be paid that way.

(b) Is it possible that the municipality will charge a fee for paying through Paypal Billpay?

(c) Are there any downsides that I'm not thinking of?

I know I can contact the municipality, but I wanted to get info from you guys first.

Someone already replied with the same experience as me as far as looking up the Tax Revenue office etc. I did have an issue because despite adding the payee without problem, I kept getting errors at the final step. I tried over 2 weeks and then finally it worked via the app (I could see other people complaining on reddit about our county). I only sent $500 the first time because I wanted to see it track all the way to my county revenue website (which took 2-3 days). Then I sent the rest.

so:


1) depends on county
2) no extra fee (even though you have to pay one if you use CC direct at the tax revenue site)
3) worked for me after the issues I described above.