I love credit cards so much!

[SouthFayetteFan]

I've forgotten this detail from 2 years prior....I know spend should be in 2019 for the 2 years- why do I recall starting the spend in November? didn't it all apply to the MSR ,and thus hen the bonus hit after 1/19 it would all count toward 2019 spending? (how can I forget this so easily?)

When SW Biz and personal cards are at 60k and 50k it doesn’t matter much. The bonus alone gets you the 110k pts is when you spent money didn’t really matter. The greater focus on this right now is related to the personal card being at 40k making the 110k a little harder to attain (if you don’t have access to a 50k in flight offer). The other thing is people are just being super cautious to not screw up and have the bonus accidentally post in 2018. Fraud, Returns, Miscalculations and other issues have caused people to hit their MSR too early.

 

[calypso726]

Thanks for the perspectives. The Biz Plat was one of the first cards I got when I started to catch on to the whole travel rewards thing, and I used the 50% MR points back a lot, until they changed it to 35%. By then, I had a decent stash of AA points plus the AA gift cards from the travel credit to use for flights, so I got out of the habit of looking to use MR for flights. I have a few months to think about the cost v. benefits so I'll make a point to look at the possibility of using MR for flights -- I have a bunch of flights to book for Christmas.

When I factor in the $200 in AA GCs and the GoGo inflight Wi-Fi passes plus the discounted airfare I have found through Amex travel then it all far outweighs the fee. That is even before I factor in paying with points and getting 35% back making the points worth 1.54. I love UR points but when I choose to pay for airfare with points I always compare pricing via the UR portal and pricing via the amex portal and Amex Travel pricing beats Chase UR portal pricing nearly every single time.

 

[Lain]

Purchase $10 Starbucks eGiftcard using Masterpass & Get $5 Starbucks eGiftcard.

I just sent $10 to myself, and the $10 + $5 GCs arrived immediately. I know a lot of you already have Masterpass set up from Plastiq and other deals. (If you don't, it takes just a few minutes to set up a new account.) The terms just require you to use Masterpass, but you can add MasterCard, Visa, and Amex cards to your Masterpass wallet. Limit 1 (per account/email?). I added my Amex Gold and paid through Masterpass, no problem. I set up a separate Masterpass account for DW, added her Amex Gold, and did the deal a second time, and the GCs are already in the inbox.

P.S.: It occurs to me that this deal is processed through Cashstar, so it may or may not code as 4x MR for restaurants on the Amex Gold. In the past, Cashstar transactions have coded as 3x UR on the CIP, but I don't have any recent DPs.

P.P.S.: Double checked and Cashstar did stop coding 3x UR on the CIP back in February. (I must've been thinking of another GC processor.) I don't know which card will optimize this spend, but we're talking $10 or $20, so don't sweat it and maybe put it on a card you're working on meeting MSR.

 

[kmc8826]

After getting my husband and I each a CSP and him a Cap. One Venture last month we have already hit MSR's. Paying off our upcoming trip mostly. We also have 5 kids which means quite a bit of organic spending. Since we established that I probably applied for the wrong cards to get started I don't want to make another mistake. I have a few questions:
1. Our credit scores are both in the low 700's. Are they too low to effectively churn?
2. We want to buy a house in a year or two. I have read conflicting information about how churning effects a mortgage. Any first hand experience?
3. If churning is right for us, what is our next move? Christmas and 4 out of 5 birthdays in the next few months means I have lots of spending coming up.

Thanks,
Yes we don't carry a balance. Time seems to be the main factor in raising our scores. I'm thinking the new cards might have a bit of positive impact since it will raise our credit limits and lower our utilization.

I was not doing the churning thing when we got our mortgage or even when we refinanced but we did just get a home equity loan this summer. They ran the credit check on that and emphasized the number of cards (not happy). But we have high scores that are higher now that we have more credit. Your actual amount of credit helps your score. I think you are okay to keep doing what you are doing with opening new cards, pay off every month, increase scores slowly, then maybe 6 months before you look at getting the mortgage stop applying. You seem to be on the right track. As long as not too close in time you might want too look at another Chase or branching out to another company like Amex.

 

[Lain]

@calypso726 - I know you do a fair bit of international travel. How's the GoGo WiFi coverage on international flights? I looked up the GoGo coverage map on a United flight, and it seems limited to most of North America.

 

[DrFacilier]

Here’s another SW CP question: We are flying 3/16 and hope to have our 2nd CP by then. I just realized an issue... We booked one reservation for My wife and myself and a separate for DD7 using her RR points on her account. The plan is that we would use one companion pass for each daughter. Reading the thread today, it hit me that I will need to book travel on my own RR account instead of my wife’s if I want to use my CP for our March trip right?

So here is what I think I have to do. Cancel both of the reservations and book separate reservations for DD7 and DW on DW’s account and then book separate reservations for myself and DD9 on my account. The caveat here is that I am currently DW’s companion until we can change that after our December trip. (That’s why we will need to start with 4 paid tickets instead of 3).

Once we get back from our December trip I wil change DW’s companion to DD7 and cancel her ticket. Once I get the CP I will cancel DD9’s ticket.

Does this sound right? Does it cost money to transfer RR points from DW to me? I really hope this post makes sense lol.

 

[palhockeymomof2]

Here’s another SW CP question: We are flying 3/16 and hope to have our 2nd CP by then. I just realized an issue... We booked one reservation for My wife and myself and a separate for DD7 using her RR points on her account. The plan is that we would use one companion pass for each daughter. Reading the thread today, it hit me that I will need to book travel on my own RR account instead of my wife’s if I want to use my CP for our March trip right?

So here is what I think I have to do. Cancel both of the reservations and book separate reservations for DD7 and DW on DW’s account and then book separate reservations for myself and DD9 on my account. The caveat here is that I am currently DW’s companion until we can change that after our December trip. (That’s why we will need to start with 4 paid tickets instead of 3).

Once we get back from our December trip I wil change DW’s companion to DD7 and cancel her ticket. Once I get the CP I will cancel DD9’s ticket.

Does this sound right? Does it cost money to transfer RR points from DW to me? I really hope this post makes sense lol.

You can keep the reservation you have to use the CP....it’s doesn’t matter whose points you used to book your flight...just make sure you have your RR number on the reservation...once the CP is attached to your account you can add a companion online to any of your booked flights

If the prices are still the same you can cancel and rebook everyone else on separate reservations......if they aren’t you can call later on to cancel one person on a reservation

It does cost money to transfer RR points

 

[amalone1013]

P.S.: It occurs to me that this deal is processed through Cashstar, so it may or may not code as 4x MR for restaurants on the Amex Gold. In the past, Cashstar transactions have coded as 3x UR on the CIP, but I don't have any recent DPs.

I got all excited to use this for my CIP MSR will just use SPG Lux

 

[afan]

10x UR when using Chase pay at ATL and CLT at participating dining and merchants. DoC post Bit random but probably easier for some to pay with your phone than card at the airport. IF I have time to buy breakfast during my connection next month I'll have to try and remember to use it to pay. No problem after a red eye with less than 40 min to connect.

 

[calypso726]

@calypso726 - I know you do a fair bit of international travel. How's the GoGo WiFi coverage on international flights? I looked up the GoGo coverage map on a United flight, and it seems limited to most of North America.

Hit or miss depending on where you are on a given moment. I rely on it more for domestic flights since I usually don’t try to sleep on those. Most of the International flights I try to time the departure so I can go sleep at a normal hour after dinner service. This helps with the jet lag.

When we both had the Plat biz we managed to make our passes last until the end of the year. I didn’t think we’d be flying as much as the previous year and didn’t realize how much the Wi-Fi costs. So, I’ve been watching movies on the plane or reading.

 

[DrFacilier]

You can keep the reservation you have to use the CP....it’s doesn’t matter whose points you used to book your flight...just make sure you have your RR number on the reservation...once the CP is attached to your account you can add a companion online to any of your booked flights

If the prices are still the same you can cancel and rebook everyone else on separate reservations......if they aren’t you can call later on to cancel one person on a reservation

It does cost money to transfer RR poin

You can keep the reservation you have to use the CP....it’s doesn’t matter whose points you used to book your flight...just make sure you have your RR number on the reservation...once the CP is attached to your account you can add a companion online to any of your booked flights

If the prices are still the same you can cancel and rebook everyone else on separate reservations......if they aren’t you can call later on to cancel one person on a reservation

It does cost money to transfer RR points

Ok, well that’s great news! I have never really logged into my own RR account but I just did and saw that my tickets are there and I should be able to book a companion there once I earn the CP. Thanks so much!

 

[miztressuz]

Approved for the AS biz card! I only put the 7800 for the biz and that I didn't have other income I wanted considered. Curious to see the limit, hopefully 1k to make meeting spend easier. Yay for AS miles and I can cancel the personal card!

hey @afan circling back to this because I'm impatient, how'd you find out about the approval?

 

[Alexle2007]

I've forgotten this detail from 2 years prior....I know spend should be in 2019 for the 2 years- why do I recall starting the spend in November? didn't it all apply to the MSR ,and thus hen the bonus hit after 1/19 it would all count toward 2019 spending? (how can I forget this so easily?)

It all depends on when your statement closes. So like my payments are due on the 26th and 28th of the month. And my statements close on the 1st and 3rd so all spend/RRs after 12/1 and 12/3 counted for 2018 then the bonuses would post after the MSR was met. So if I had $500 spend when my statement closed on 12/1 those points would count towards 2017. On 12/15 when I had $1500 in spend, those 1500 points would count towards 2018 and I receive the 60k bonus.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Ok update here on the saga of DH's credit report.... I check today at CK and TU shows 14 active but EQ shows 11 - so according to TU he's 5/24 and according to EQ he's 3/24...... do I need to dispute directly at TU based on this? I don't get how it can be so different from one to the other here.... so that must mean Chase had them drop off the AU's at EQ, but not TU,right? I just want to get my CP plans moving (ahem I mean DH's plans) so I can figure out what else I want to try right now..... (still in the middle of using the many vgc's I bought in the past few months too!)
******ETA_ went to EXP site They log the same 3/24 as EQ.(I think Chase uses Exp in my state) does this mean he's cleared for takeoff?
*****ETA (again!) did the TU dispute at their site...now I can't do anything except wait,righto? I'm hoping this works before January

My trans union dispute for Amex AU removal was super fast. 2 or 3 days.

 

[afan]

hey @afan circling back to this because I'm impatient, how'd you find out about the approval?

They sent an email. It sucks since there's no way to check status that's automated. It took a few days before it showed up in my account online since I still had the personal at that point. I need to double check too, I know I signed up for paperless but they sent a paper statement. I know some will with the first statement but I always sign up for paperless when I apply/enroll online so I wasn't amused at the 3 pages I got yesterday.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

In other news, I'm really glad I blew all of my Chase UR points on Disney this spring. It paid for my flights and 6 night stay there.

I just used whatever Chase UR points I had built up since then to buy cheap flights for the next trip I found.

I’m so glad I used mine on that restricted rate DCL sailing for dec. too!! Original price $12k, sale price $8500...used 450k URs, and the remainder of around $1800 I paid and earned points on it.
Not too bad!

 

[kmc8826]

Hit or miss depending on where you are on a given moment. I rely on it more for domestic flights since I usually don’t try to sleep on those. Most of the International flights I try to time the departure so I can go sleep at a normal hour after dinner service. This helps with the jet lag.

When we both had the Plat biz we managed to make our passes last until the end of the year. I didn’t think we’d be flying as much as the previous year and didn’t realize how much the Wi-Fi costs. So, I’ve been watching movies on the plane or reading.

Watching movies on the plane or reading like a peasant!

Seriously though, isn’t there WiFi passes attached to the SPG Lux? I haven’t looked into it though.

 

[WVMomof3]

I've been slow to look at my amex offers and have the AT&T one but it's on my biz card. It says - pay your wireless bill or other service charges online directly with AT&T at att.com/smallbusiness or through the AT&T app.

I know a lot of people have done the offer whether they had cell and internet or cell and directv, which is what we have, but I didn't see if anyone had done it on a biz card. I'm guessing since ours isn't through the small business link, because I'm a sole prop and wouldn't have that even if I had a biz, that it won't work for me. There is some wording that makes it look like it won't matter if it's through small biz but I'd rather make sure. Since it's all under my mom's name and I'd have to involve her in it, I would hate to do it thinking it'll work and then it doesn't.

I am several days and several hundred messages behind so don't know if this got addressed, but yes I used this on my SPG Biz card to pay my personal cell phone bill. I just added my card as the payment did not go through anything special.

 

[Lain]

Watching movies on the plane or reading like a peasant!

Seriously though, isn’t there WiFi passes attached to the SPG Lux? I haven’t looked into it though.

The WiFi benefit that comes with the SPG Lux is for Boingo. You can usually find Boingo hotspots in airports and hotels, but not in-flight. I think the only Amex card that offers in-flight WiFi is the Biz Plat with its Gogo passes.

 

[Ava]

I'm hopelessly behind on this thread (as usual) but have a quick Chase question...

What's the timeline for getting a full refund of an AF? Is it 30 days after the charge posts, or 30 days after that statement closes?

I referred my wife to CIP on 9/29, but she wasn't approved until around 10/9. Meanwhile, the AF on my CIP posted on 10/1. She's since received her card, activated it, and started using it, but I haven't received the 20K UR referral bonus yet. I want to close my card while I can still get the AF refunded but obviously also want to wait for those referral points to post so am just wondering how much more time I have. I did SM Chase tonight to ask about the bonus too.

Thanks & hope you all are doing well!