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

[mmmears]

Quoting both of these AND hoping that everyone who responded to me yesterday reads this. I discussed getting trip insurance with my husband for the 21 day European trip ( different countries, DLP, Paris, Barcelona, Rome, London and a cruise) and he said no, don't worry about it.
Um - I am doing it anyway. So you guys keep on posting all of your knowledge and I'm going to use it all and purchase trip insurance.
One big remaining questoin for you guys - I read about reimbursement of electronics -- for instance if your iPad or computer or phone gets lost or stolen. Is that worth it as a "rider"?

DH travels with a lot of electronics, but I don't care that much about our stuff - I'm really concerned with us and our health when choosing a policy. I don't think I've ever added on phone or laptop coverage. Also, I insure the cash cost of the trip because they told me they won't insure points awards but I think others have said that they will (if it's possible, I have yet to find the plan that would cover it).

 

[DogCat]

Wanted to report back: I had asked previously about methods to pay student loans via credit card. I decided to go for the 90k CIU signup bonus and use Gift of College to pay off the loans.

Gift of College allows you to make payments of up to $500 directly towards the loans for a fee of 5%, capped at $15 per transaction (so 3%, if you do the full $500 per transaction). There are some stores that offer their gift cards at a lower fee, but none in my area.

The payments went through quickly and without issue - they posted the day after I made the transaction.

For me, I had the funds to pay these off but wanted to find a way to make it seem less painful. Paying $180 in fees to pay off 6k in loans and earn 90k in UR points seemed worth it to me, but I know it's not for everyone.

Just wanted to share in case anyone else is in a similar situation!

Where did you purchase the $500 gift cards? Oh now I see you can make payments without buying a gift card. Can you make credit card payments to your own student loan account?

 

[Love4Eeyore]

*on another note all this talk about Insurance makes me wonder if anyone ever got an annual policy?
We have 3 maybe 4 trips for the next 12 months. (japan next year). Is there even such a thing as annual
policy for land/cruise trips?

I just purchased an annual policy for my family a few days ago from Allianz. Covers all travel more than 150 miles from home. Comprehensive with medical evac of $500,000. It was $715 for 2 adults + our 7 yo. We also have a few trips this year, including a cruise and wanted to make sure we'd be covered for them all.

I hope you find one that fits your needs!

 

[Sheree]

Go to the Marriott website, search for the Walt Disney World Resort or the specific hotel you want, pick a one night stay approx when you want to go, select flexible dates and points. It will show a month calendar for that hotel with point cost each night. My player who got stuck with these didn't have success using their certs for the dates they wanted, unlike last year where they were able to top them off to get there. The point inflation has just gotten too high. I see there are some nights that will work depending on when you want to go but almost all will require decent top offs (max you can top is 15k pts).

Do realize these are extremely dynamic and just because they're here today doesn't mean they'll be there when you're ready so I would hit the spend asap if dates that worked for me were available to get hold of the certs.

shockingly i got 4 nights (mar 6-10) with 7k top off just last week. I had been looking and never was able to use them t swan. i was going to give them to my son for 4 nights in nyc he needed, but nope!

 

[georgina]

shockingly i got 4 nights (mar 6-10) with 7k top off just last week. I had been looking and never was able to use them t swan. i was going to give them to my son for 4 nights in nyc he needed, but nope!

That's great for short notice. I have been able to use my 35,000 FNC at the Swan (with points top off) in the past, in Sept and early Dec, but lately it has been tough. We are using my 50,000 FNC at Marriott's Sabal Palms property in Orlando in late April/early May

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

It was super sweet coming out of the top of the volcano right at the sun was setting, even if it was only for a fleeting second!

 

[Princess Michele]

To the right and half way down, there's a Documents and statements link. Scroll down and you'll find Tax documents. Mine only has the interest though and not the SUB.

Thanks for the directions. I found the statements but I guess I just did not scoll down far enough to see the tax documents. Mine is only for the interest also.

It was interesting b/c the 1099 for the interest came via email. I couldn't find it on the site either and ended up clicking the direct link from the email (though I know that's usually dicey with possible scams, but it was legit in this instance). That was maybe 3 days ago and the 1099 for the SUP came via snail mail yesterday. First I thought it was just a mailed copy of the emailed one, but nope!

I have not received anything in the mail for the SUB yet. I am away from home until Sunday so I guess I will wait and see if one arrives.

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

Regarding travel insurance, I always try to get a policy with at least $1,500.00 of lost or delayed baggage coverage (the usual limit is around $500.00). After having my bag stolen from Atlanta Hatfield several years ago I am sensitive to this. Also have talked to several people over the years who have had some pretty significant baggage delivery delays.
I always purchase travel insurance because you just never know what can happen while you’re away. In 2012, just before dd and I were to start our London / Paris ABD, (we were in London already) my mom passed from a massive and sudden heart attack. It was one of the worst times of my life; I had no issue with the insurance — got back everything that I filed for. In a super cruel twist of fate dd and I went back to London Nd Paris in August (at dh’s urging) and while we were sitting on the patio at Harrod’s having lunch I got notice that her 10 yrs younger sister passed away (she had pancreatic cancer so it wasn’t sudden). They held a memorial service after we got back so family across the country had time to make travel arrangements..

 

[momto4girlz]

Hi. First post to this thread. Our budget is tight, so I'm interested in taking advantage of some of these cc offers so that I can take a trip this summer. I saw an offer for the Chase Marriott Boundless --5 free night awards.

Cards I've opened in the past 24 months:

05/23 Bank of Amer Platinum (interest free with a balance of 12k until feb '25)

08/23 Barclay's Banana Republic (zero balance)

I have a Chase Sapphire with zero balance. I've had that card for years but rarely use it.

I mostly use a Marriott Bonvoy Amex card to get the points. I use to have the one with the $450 fee, but downgraded to the $95 fee when they changed some of the terms re the Marriott statement credit.

I charge around 3k to 5k per month to the card...groceries, gas, rent for college student, utilities, subscriptions. Last year I averaged 6-7k per month if you include the occasional big purchases like tuition, and a vacay. I do not carry a balance on it.

My goal is to travel at minimal cost. We do not fly--we like road trips. I would be open to flying if I could do it cheaply. Right now I'd just like to be able to drive a few hours and spend a week at the beach this summer. I don't have any big aspirations of world travel.

We mainly stay at Marriott properties because we usually have points. I have recently started branching out a bit. Last summer on a road trip to CO, we stayed at a Choice prop twice to break up the drive. We like Drury, too, but locations are limited. I know the Marriott brand well--the value of the points, etc. The recent change they made of getting rid of the categories has actually worked in my favor because we often travel during off peak periods. Of course my desire to go to the beach in June will be a stretch on a 50k fna. But I don't have to be beachfront.

I am open to other ideas. I have read that Hyatt has a good rewards program, but I have no experience with that brand. I am completely new to this churning thing. It's intimidating. Thanks for the help.

eta: I just saw my username. To clarify. My youngest is 18--graduating hs in May. I have one in college, oldest two are completely launched. When we travel these days, it's usually just me and the 2 younger dds. Sometimes its just dh and I. We live in Alabama.

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

Hi. First post to this thread. Our budget is tight, so I'm interested in taking advantage of some of these cc offers so that I can take a trip this summer. I saw an offer for the Chase Marriott Boundless --5 free night awards.

Cards I've opened in the past 24 months:

05/23 Bank of Amer Platinum (interest free with a balance of 12k until feb '25)

08/23 Barclay's Banana Republic (zero balance)

I have a Chase Sapphire with zero balance. I've had that card for years but rarely use it.

I mostly use a Marriott Bonvoy Amex card to get the points. I use to have the one with the $450 fee, but downgraded to the $95 fee when they changed some of the terms re the Marriott statement credit.

I charge around 3k to 5k per month to the card...groceries, gas, rent for college student, utilities, subscriptions. Last year I averaged 6-7k per month if you include the occasional big purchases like tuition, and a vacay. I do not carry a balance on it.

My goal is to travel at minimal cost. We do not fly--we like road trips. I would be open to flying if I could do it cheaply. Right now I'd just like to be able to drive a few hours and spend a week at the beach this summer. I don't have any big aspirations of world travel.

We mainly stay at Marriott properties because we usually have points. I have recently started branching out a bit. Last summer on a road trip to CO, we stayed at a Choice prop twice to break up the drive. We like Drury, too, but locations are limited. I know the Marriott brand well--the value of the points, etc. The recent change they made of getting rid of the categories has actually worked in my favor because we often travel during off peak periods. Of course my desire to go to the beach in June will be a stretch on a 50k fna. But I don't have to be beachfront.

I am open to other ideas. I have read that Hyatt has a good rewards program, but I have no experience with that brand. I am completely new to this churning thing. It's intimidating. Thanks for the help.

eta: I just saw my username. To clarify. My youngest is 18--graduating hs in May. I have one in college, oldest two are completely launched. When we travel these days, it's usually just me and the 2 younger dds. Sometimes its just dh and I. We live in Alabama.

Welcome. Check out this chart, which will tell you if you're eligible for another Marriott card, as the rules are finicky.

Another option- if it's been 48 months since you received the welcome bonus on the Chase Sapphire, you're eligible for the bonus again. You would need to downgrade the card to a no AF Freedom, then wait at least four days and you're eligible to apply for either the CSP or the CSR. If you don't have any other UR holding cards, make sure to use or transfer out any existing URs first.

If your DH is willing to open a card and doesn't yet have a sapphire, the better option would be for you to send him a support link to open the sapphire. You would get 10,000 Chase UR (I think that's the support bonus) and he would get the sign up bonus. After your 10,000 points have posted to your account, you can also follow the directions to re-earn the bonus, but this time use a support link your DH sends to you. 2 player mode is any easy tip that really increases your points.

If your DH is eligible, the Marriott (5) 50k offer is a good offer and it sounds like you are well versed in how to use them to get their value. I'm not sure if this is available via support link- as of a few days ago it was not.

 

[momto4girlz]

Welcome. Check out this chart, which will tell you if you're eligible for another Marriott card, as the rules are finicky.

Another option- if it's been 48 months since you received the welcome bonus on the Chase Sapphire, you're eligible for the bonus again. You would need to downgrade the card to a no AF Freedom, then wait at least four days and you're eligible to apply for either the CSP or the CSR. If you don't have any other UR holding cards, make sure to use or transfer out any existing URs first.

If your DH is willing to open a card and doesn't yet have a sapphire, the better option would be for you to send him a support link to open the sapphire. You would get 10,000 Chase UR (I think that's the support bonus) and he would get the sign up bonus. After your 10,000 points have posted to your account, you can also follow the directions to re-earn the bonus, but this time use a support link your DH sends to you. 2 player mode is any easy tip that really increases your points.

If your DH is eligible, the Marriott (5) 50k offer is a good offer and it sounds like you are well versed in how to use them to get their value. I'm not sure if this is available via support link- as of a few days ago it was not.

Aaaah...okay. Dh already has the Chase Marriott Boundless, so that's a no go.

Do you all just routinely cancel ccs in order to take advantage of the best offers? According to the chart you linked (thanks btw), I'd have to cancel my Amex Bonvoy and wait 30 days to apply for the Chase. Do people do that? I'm not sure I understand the "churn" concept. In my economy canceling any credit card is a big no-no. Is there a resource you recommend to help me understand how to do this? Like a summary of sorts lol.

eta: nevermind...you answered this! Thanks.

I've always had this mindset that I shouldn't have many ccs. I am wondering how many is too many?

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

I've always had this mindset that I shouldn't have many ccs. I am wondering how many is too many?

Seems like sky's the limit in my household!

But based on what you described, you're far, far from "too many" in the general opinion of folks around here. Do be sure to keep your oldest cards open as they boost the average age of your credit, which is good for your score. And watch your velocity when applying for new cards, different banks have different rules/guidelines. But with your spend, you have a lot of options for racking up points through SUBs to pay for some nice summer travel.

 

[hsmamato2]

So.... something strange this am..... one of our IHG accts sent me an email about my upcoming stay,which I didn't book! So I went straight to website to check,and there it was. I called in to inform them,but just got an overseas operater who canceled it and then called it a human error...(?) I went into acct and changed the password and also deleted the form of payment that was on the acct just in case..... What do you all think? It's a VERY unusual email name, and it doesn't appear they used points to book, it was booked in cash. (I didn't see any charge pending on the cc that was in acct) so not sure what they used to pay?
Just trying to figure out if this is scam, or honest mistake. Anyway hopefully it's all fixed

 

[hsmamato2]

If you can please tell who you used...you can pm if you want. International insurance always makes
me nervous and I dont want to over insure or under insure.. Thank you for breaking down the
recommended amounts you got. Our last cruise there was 2 evacuations. Normally I never really think
about it but lately it has def got my attention to having really good insurance.

I've been where you are in the past, worrying a lot about which one to choose. That site provides a lot of good choices, you really have to compare the plans and choose which suits your own trip. As noted earlier by a pp, I am most interested in medical and evacuation coverage if needed,and I added 'cancel for any reason' b/c lots can happen between Dec and August when planning a trip. (that's when I put down my first deposit) So I chose a well rated plan (reviews on the site) that best fit what I was looking for.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Aaaah...okay. Dh already has the Chase Marriott Boundless, so that's a no go.

Do you all just routinely cancel ccs in order to take advantage of the best offers? According to the chart you linked (thanks btw), I'd have to cancel my Amex Bonvoy and wait 30 days to apply for the Chase. Do people do that? I'm not sure I understand the "churn" concept. In my economy canceling any credit card is a big no-no. Is there a resource you recommend to help me understand how to do this? Like a summary of sorts lol.

eta: nevermind...you answered this! Thanks.

I've always had this mindset that I shouldn't have many ccs. I am wondering how many is too many?

Great advice given so far. As for the "too many cards" I think many people believe that but it's really not true. It's more about too much debt. Most of the regulars on this thread have very high credit scores, lots of cards, carry zero balances, and apply for multiple cards per year (like 4-6 or more)

Pro tip, don't add your spouse as an authorized user because that counts towards their credit report (and Chase only allows 5 personal applications in 24 months, called 5/24 rule) and you can each get a card. Just because your spouse has a card, doesn't mean you can't get the same one. I'd run both of your credit reports and count how many new cards each of you has in the past 24 months to see where you're at.

 

[georgina]

So.... something strange this am..... one of our IHG accts sent me an email about my upcoming stay,which I didn't book! So I went straight to website to check,and there it was. I called in to inform them,but just got an overseas operater who canceled it and then called it a human error...(?) I went into acct and changed the password and also deleted the form of payment that was on the acct just in case..... What do you all think? It's a VERY unusual email name, and it doesn't appear they used points to book, it was booked in cash. (I didn't see any charge pending on the cc that was in acct) so not sure what they used to pay?
Just trying to figure out if this is scam, or honest mistake. Anyway hopefully it's all fixed

That would alarm me also. DH once got an email from Marriott thanking him for his stay, he got Bonvoy points for it, but it wasn't his stay. Called Marriott, it was someone with the same first initial and last name, the stay was not charged to any of our credit cards (looked like maybe a business trip and a corporate credit card), they mixed up something and he got the points.

Makes you wonder how often they mix up accounts, I'm guessing it was somehow linked to your loyalty number, definitely important to change passwords and delete saved CC though. If they thought it was you and the people skipped out without paying, it would go on your card.

 

[leeniewdw]

That would alarm me also. DH once got an email from Marriott thanking him for his stay, he got Bonvoy points for it, but it wasn't his stay. Called Marriott, it was someone with the same first initial and last name, the stay was not charged to any of our credit cards (looked like maybe a business trip and a corporate credit card), they mixed up something and he got the points.

Makes you wonder how often they mix up accounts, I'm guessing it was somehow linked to your loyalty number, definitely important to change passwords and delete saved CC though. If they thought it was you and the people skipped out without paying, it would go on your card.

I had an odd thing happen with my Amazon Prime account. I knew I was supposed to get billed in August and was considering not renewing. About 2 weeks before I was to get billed I got a charge to my Amazon card for the Prime sub amount. I almost took the lazy way out and didn't do anything (and just decide to keep it), but decided to do a chat with support. They tried to convince me they just billed me early. That didn't seem like the appropriate response, so I did ask to cancel. They had to xfer me to the "cancellation" dept and that person was like "do you want to cancel both Prime subscriptions"? I was confused. Anyway, someone had used a different email to sign up for Prime, but used my CC. Oddly, they didn't order anything from Amazon using my CC -- guess they were trying to get Prime for free and hoped I wouldn't notice. Anyway, we canceled their sub and mine and I reported the card as stolen.

 

[georgina]

I had an odd thing happen with my Amazon Prime account. I knew I was supposed to get billed in August and was considering not renewing. About 2 weeks before I was to get billed I got a charge to my Amazon card for the Prime sub amount. I almost took the lazy way out and didn't do anything (and just decide to keep it), but decided to do a chat with support. They tried to convince me they just billed me early. That didn't seem like the appropriate response, so I did ask to cancel. They had to xfer me to the "cancellation" dept and that person was like "do you want to cancel both Prime subscriptions"? I was confused. Anyway, someone had used a different email to sign up for Prime, but used my CC. Oddly, they didn't order anything from Amazon using my CC -- guess they were trying to get Prime for free and hoped I wouldn't notice. Anyway, we canceled their sub and mine and I reported the card as stolen.

Glad you got it resolved. Amazon customer service is the worst.

 

[djmeredith]

Hi. First post to this thread. Our budget is tight, so I'm interested in taking advantage of some of these cc offers so that I can take a trip this summer. I saw an offer for the Chase Marriott Boundless --5 free night awards.

Cards I've opened in the past 24 months:

05/23 Bank of Amer Platinum (interest free with a balance of 12k until feb '25)

08/23 Barclay's Banana Republic (zero balance)

I have a Chase Sapphire with zero balance. I've had that card for years but rarely use it.

I mostly use a Marriott Bonvoy Amex card to get the points. I use to have the one with the $450 fee, but downgraded to the $95 fee when they changed some of the terms re the Marriott statement credit.

I charge around 3k to 5k per month to the card...groceries, gas, rent for college student, utilities, subscriptions. Last year I averaged 6-7k per month if you include the occasional big purchases like tuition, and a vacay. I do not carry a balance on it.

My goal is to travel at minimal cost. We do not fly--we like road trips. I would be open to flying if I could do it cheaply. Right now I'd just like to be able to drive a few hours and spend a week at the beach this summer. I don't have any big aspirations of world travel.

We mainly stay at Marriott properties because we usually have points. I have recently started branching out a bit. Last summer on a road trip to CO, we stayed at a Choice prop twice to break up the drive. We like Drury, too, but locations are limited. I know the Marriott brand well--the value of the points, etc. The recent change they made of getting rid of the categories has actually worked in my favor because we often travel during off peak periods. Of course my desire to go to the beach in June will be a stretch on a 50k fna. But I don't have to be beachfront.

I am open to other ideas. I have read that Hyatt has a good rewards program, but I have no experience with that brand. I am completely new to this churning thing. It's intimidating. Thanks for the help.

eta: I just saw my username. To clarify. My youngest is 18--graduating hs in May. I have one in college, oldest two are completely launched. When we travel these days, it's usually just me and the 2 younger dds. Sometimes its just dh and I. We live in Alabama.

Welcome! With your spend amt and having a second player (P2 - husband), you should be able to get a lot of SUB and referral pts pretty quickly. You've received a lot of good advice already. Just wanted to emphasize that you should never close a card prior to the one year date. Other than that, you need to be careful about amt of credit limit you carry total instead of number of cards. I usually cancel cards with annual fees after 1 year unless the card benefits are of specific value to me that makes the fee worth it.

Hyatt offers really good redemptions. Their cards don't seem to offer good SUBs very often, so I haven't used a 5/24 spot for it. However, Chase UR transfer to Hyatt. You may also want to consider Hilton cards in the future when they have a good SUB. Their redemptions aren't near as good as Hyatt, but they are in a lot of locations. I've had good success maximizing the high Hilton SUBs.

 

[mfly]

Where did you purchase the $500 gift cards? Oh now I see you can make payments without buying a gift card. Can you make credit card payments to your own student loan account?

Yes, you can pay towards your own loan! There are no restrictions on that.