I love credit cards so much!

[mmmears]

It's taken forever, but our CSR points from the DDip finally posted. Pfew. The card was opened in July but we waited until we were abroad in August to finish up the MSR, and then waited to pay until the bill was due (any little bit of interest... ) and I was getting worried. Very happy and relieved that all the points are there!

We don't fly SW much at all, but I think there is finally a direct to MCO from somewhere near us, and there will soon be ones to Hawaii from here... so I'm trying to follow along and just have to say that the whole CP stuff looks pretty complicated. If we decide we want to fly SW more I'll have to really learn all the nuances of these cards.

Yes, it works with United. If you earn UA miles via the MileagePlus shopping portal, those go right into your UA account and count as activity.

This is awesome! Thanks!

LOL-you sound like me I have effectively just switched my allegiance from the parks to DCL and the occasional ABD. We've done 2 DCLs in Europe (Dover-Barcelona) and Med out of Barcelona and they are, at this stage of the game for me, so much more relaxing than parks. Guess I'm falling in the older side of "newly wed and nearly dead" cruise demographic

Yep, I totally get that. I hope to try ABD sometime. Our last cruise was spectacular, but I'm not really finding other ones that are pulling us in. I hope they expand to more exotic or interesting locales when the new ships come out. LOL on the demographic. I might fall in there, too.

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.

Can you explain something about the Plat biz MR points back thing? Is this only if we pay for a flight with MRs (through AMEX)? Or does it also work if I transfer MRs to something like Avios or Flying Blue and then book my flights that way? We don't have a Biz Plat (that 10K MSR makes us think we should get other cards first) but if it stretches out our MRs that much it might just be worth it.

 

[wendow]

So, I messed up...Apparently, when I set up payments on my new spg biz, I linked my bank but I did not actually set up the autopay to go. So, day after my bill was supposed to be paid, I checked and I had been charged a late fee. I immediately contacted Amex and explained the situation and they said they would take the late fee off. However, I was still charged $80 in interest. Will they not remove those or did I need to specifically ask they remove interest charges too?

 

[calypso726]

This makes sense especially for first-class tickets. (IIRC the 35% MR back is for all first-class tickets plus tickets on a selected airline.) Since first-class tickets are not in my near-future travel plans, the 35% MR back is useful only when it happens that AA has the best flights/cost combination. This year I have bought a couple of AA tickets but used AA GCs. I've also bought a few tickets on Delta and United, plus one on Hawaiian.

Another of my issues is that I have found UR points easier to earn than MR points. Although that might be changing with the 4x MR for groceries with the new/improved Gold card.

Yes, exactly. The 35% back is on first or business class flights on any airline and for coach seats must be on your selected airline. Most of our flights are with AA and paid for with AA GCs and/or MR with the 35% back. This has managed to get us status which is kind of neat and somewhat unexpected.

Yes, UR has always been easier to earn. I was just updating our miles and points spreadsheet to see where we are at on each loyalty program. In the variable points area we've got waaaay more UR points than we have MR. I do see that changing down the line now that I will be using the Amex BBP for non category spend and the new Gold card for dining and groceries.

 

[wendow]

Yowza! Just checked the new prices for WDW tix. Bought tix last week for next March on UT. Same tix now over $300 more from Disney. This just may be our last year. Over $1500 just for tix is pretty crazy.

We are up to about $2500 for our fam's tix...that is non-PH'ers, off season, 6-day tix....I'm honestly getting kind of 'done' with Disney right now. The money grubbing is ridiculous. I honestly don't know how anyone, who doesn't do what we all do, can afford it.

 

[calypso726]

Can you explain something about the Plat biz MR points back thing? Is this only if we pay for a flight with MRs (through AMEX)? Or does it also work if I transfer MRs to something like Avios or Flying Blue and then book my flights that way? We don't have a Biz Plat (that 10K MSR makes us think we should get other cards first) but if it stretches out our MRs that much it might just be worth it.

Correct. You need to pay for the flight booked on Amex Travel which usually has some flights that cost less than the published fares with your MR points. If the flight is on your selected airline in any class seat that you choose for your $220 airline credit you will get 35% of the points back. If the flight is first or business on any airline you will get the 35% back as well.

No it doesn't work for transferring to an airline to book award travel. However, Amex does frequently offer transfer bonuses to selected airlines for a limited time. Once we took advantage of a 50% transfer bonus of MR to BA Avios. Last month there was a 30% transfer bonus of MR to Virgin Atlantic. I was able to transfer 185,000 MR and get 240,500 miles which should get me two RT seats in first class to Japan on ANA. But you don;t need an Amex business Platinum card to take advantage of these transfer bonuses.

 

[mmmears]

We are up to about $2500 for our fam's tix...that is non-PH'ers, off season, 6-day tix....I'm honestly getting kind of 'done' with Disney right now. The money grubbing is ridiculous. I honestly don't know how anyone, who doesn't do what we all do, can afford it.

It's really outrageous. I've decided that we will take a break and then get APs, go 2-3 of times using them, and then take a long break again. The ticket prices make a short trip to WDW just too expensive these days. If we do get to a park in the next 2 years I suspect it will be DL and just for a couple of days (or I'll do the AP thing there first).

 

[mmmears]

Correct. You need to pay for the flight booked on Amex Travel which usually has some flights that cost less than the published fares with your MR points. If the flight is on your selected airline in any class seat that you choose for your $220 airline credit you will get 35% of the points back. If the flight is first or business on any airline you will get the 35% back as well.

No it doesn't work for transferring to an airline to book award travel. However, Amex does frequently offer transfer bonuses to selected airlines for a limited time. Once we took advantage of a 50% transfer bonus of MR to BA Avios. Last month there was a 30% transfer bonus of MR to Virgin Atlantic. I was able to transfer 185,000 MR and get 240,500 miles which should get me two RT seats in first class to Japan on ANA. But you don;t need an Amex business Platinum card to take advantage of these transfer bonuses.

Thanks for explaining. We used the Avios bonus last year for our tickets this past August. It really stretched out our points nicely. And yes, just the regular platinum worked for that one. I haven't found buying seats with MRs through AMEX to be a great deal (but then the last time I did it was for Kona between xmas and New Years so they were pretty pricey), but maybe with the 35% back it would make more sense.

 

[calypso726]

SPG LUX MSR is complete! I've got my 100K Starriott points and DH has his! Now I have to find something crazy and fun to do with them! I'm thinking I'd like to take advantage of another future cat 8 stay while I can at 60K points per night. I'm just not sure where. We've got the Al Maha Desert Resort and Spa for March. I'm about ready to go throw a dart at a map.

 

[mmmears]

SPG LUX MSR is complete! I've got my 100K Starriott points and DH has his! Now I have to find something crazy and fun to do with them! I'm thinking I'd like to take advantage of another future cat 8 stay while I can at 60K points per night. I'm just not sure where. We've got the Al Maha Desert Resort and Spa for March. I'm about ready to go throw a dart at a map.

#goals

I hope to get to the point where we have extra hotel points (or even just enough hotel points) for a future trip.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Don't have a CFU

Are there any rumors as to why Chase is taking away support links??

Referrals have come and gone over the years on various cards so this is isn't out of the ordinary. I'm sure some people will remember the old "letter based" referrals that you had to call in and apply with (Yes...no online referrals for some cards!!). This was most prevalent on the Disney card and the SW Plus.

The thing is, that they have been fairly consistent and dependable over the past 2 years though so we've been somewhat spoiled. I'd guess the change has to do with marketing strategies and their customer acquisition cost budget. Given that Chase is a bank and banks LOVE layers of management, there's probably a product manager in charge of each of these cards and they're probably given some budget to use on marketing and advertising. Perhaps they've decided to try something different for awhile.

For some reason CIC and CIU do not have referrals, while CIP does and the old Ink card did. The Disney Visa has a referral yet the Disney Premier does not. Now we're seeing inconsistencies on some other cards like CSR/CSP and CF/CFU. These...yes these...are life's great mysteries my friends! Please come back soon CSR referrals, I have so many friends left to refer and experience all your point goodness!

 

[calypso726]

Thanks for explaining. We used the Avios bonus last year for our tickets this past August. It really stretched out our points nicely. And yes, just the regular platinum worked for that one. I haven't found buying seats with MRs through AMEX to be a great deal (but then the last time I did it was for Kona between xmas and New Years so they were pretty pricey), but maybe with the 35% back it would make more sense.

Definitely when using insider fares and paying with points. Here is a screen shot showing the same flights with and without an insider fare. I chose first class RT from MIA-JFK. The insider fare is 9,591 less points. When you have the business plat you'd pay the 68,650 MR and in a month you get back an additional 24,028 MR back. Which means it cost you 44,622 for the flight.




Here is the same flight in the Chase UR portal. I save 7538 in points by using Amex insider and 35% back MR with the Amex business Plat.

 

[wendow]

Referrals have come and gone over the years on various cards so this is isn't out of the ordinary. I'm sure some people will remember the old "letter based" referrals that you had to call in and apply with (Yes...no online referrals for some cards!!). This was most prevalent on the Disney card and the SW Plus.

The thing is, that they have been fairly consistent and dependable over the past 2 years though so we've been somewhat spoiled. I'd guess the change has to do with marketing strategies and their customer acquisition cost budget. Given that Chase is a bank and banks LOVE layers of management, there's probably a product manager in charge of each of these cards and they're probably given some budget to use on marketing and advertising. Perhaps they've decided to try something different for awhile.

For some reason CIC and CIU do not have referrals, while CIP does and the old Ink card did. The Disney Visa has a referral yet the Disney Premier does not. Now we're seeing inconsistencies on some other cards like CSR/CSP and CF/CFU. These...yes these...are life's great mysteries my friends! Please come back soon CSR referrals, I have so many friends left to refer and experience all your point goodness!

Lol, I remember the paper referrals we used to get with our SW cards! In fact, the first couple of times I churned SW cards, I had to call in. Just hope Chase isn't doing away with them for good.

 

[Lain]

SPG LUX MSR is complete! I've got my 100K Starriott points and DH has his! Now I have to find something crazy and fun to do with them! I'm thinking I'd like to take advantage of another future cat 8 stay while I can at 60K points per night. I'm just not sure where. We've got the Al Maha Desert Resort and Spa for March. I'm about ready to go throw a dart at a map.

Congratulations! Didn't you convert a bunch of Marriott points into travel packages and Alaska miles pre-merger? I'm sitting on a stash with no definite plans for where to use them. But those 8/26 rules and FOMO, you know?

 

[palhockeymomof2]

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!

I’m not sure of the exact timeline on the 30 days.... but could you PC your CIP to either no fee card CIC or CIU..
The 20,000 referral points usually take a week or 2 to show up as points pending on your next statement...so depending on when your statement closes they could take a statement or two to post

 

[Lain]

Yowza! Just checked the new prices for WDW tix. Bought tix last week for next March on UT. Same tix now over $300 more from Disney. This just may be our last year. Over $1500 just for tix is pretty crazy.

The price increases are getting more and more ridiculous. We love WDW but at some price point we will likely decide to spend our money elsewhere instead. Makes me sad.

We are up to about $2500 for our fam's tix...that is non-PH'ers, off season, 6-day tix....I'm honestly getting kind of 'done' with Disney right now. The money grubbing is ridiculous. I honestly don't know how anyone, who doesn't do what we all do, can afford it.

It's really outrageous. I've decided that we will take a break and then get APs, go 2-3 of times using them, and then take a long break again. The ticket prices make a short trip to WDW just too expensive these days. If we do get to a park in the next 2 years I suspect it will be DL and just for a couple of days (or I'll do the AP thing there first).

TBH, I'm a bit Disney'ed out. I think my wife is too, and she grew up Disney. And my DD -- I think we've spoiled Disneyland for her. She's only 5, but knows everything is just pretend, that Mickey and Friends are just people in costume, and the Princesses aren't the real princesses. She loves the theming and thrills, but the magic's not there for her anymore.

Disney keeps raising prices, ostensibly in response to crowds, but the crowds keep coming (and I swear, they're growing)! It's a vicious cycle because there are folks who will pay whatever Disney demands. You know how when you're stuck in traffic and you rage at all the traffic around you? Well, someone in another car is probably doing the same thing and raging at you included. Being in that traffic is being part of the problem. Same thing with the Disney parks. We went to Disneyland two weekends ago because our APs expire this month. It happened to fall on Gay Days, Columbus Day/Indigenous Peoples' Day weekend when a lot of CA schools are out that Monday, Canadian Thanksgiving, and AZ fall break. I've never seen the park so packed as on Saturday -- and we've been during the Memorial Day 24-hour parties, the opening weekend of Cars Land, Thanksgiving and Christmas week, and from what I read online it was just as bad on Monday!

I know people like to say a crowded day at Disneyland is better than no day at Disneyland. I think for us, we're at a breaking point. We won't be renewing our APs. The crowds are miserable. It's only going to get worse (and more expensive) when Star Wars land opens next summer, and Marvel land the summer after that. We ended up spending an extra $30 for MaxPass on Sunday, which was fantastic, and got in almost all the rides we wanted that day. But the point is we already spent $248 (ok, in discounted Disney GC money) on a 2-Day child Park Hopper, and had to pay another $10 to make it a bearable experience. And the crowds are still there; we just get to skip in front of most of them. We have our traditions, so we'll still go to Disneyland over Thanksgiving (when thankfully most APs are blocked out) to take in the holidays; and maybe we'll fit another short trip in some other time of the year. But too much Disney and too much crowds have made the experience not fun anymore. And the price increases aren't doing anything to help the crowds or the value of a Disney vacation.

 

[Ngwira]

I was looking at that earlier. AP are >$1,000. We will be getting 4 of them in April, but I'm not sure how much we will be going after those are expired.

Edit: I see it is the Platinum Plus AP that is >$1,000 the Platinum is $952 with tax.

That’s still almost $4,000 for a family of 4... just on tickets. We were able to get APs this year by using URs to soften the blow. Officially priced out.

 

[striker1064]

P2's Marriott 35k free night posted on the Premier Plus. I know DPs for this have been all over the place. Opened 10/16/17, upgraded to Premier Plus Sept 2018, 10k upgrade bonus posted 10/01/18, and free night posted on the exact anniversary of 10/16/18. Also has a negative $95 balance for the AF refund, so no idea what's up with that. Guessing the real AF will post soon.

Park tickets - looks like the Gold Pass went up too, but I can't see how much the DVC Gold Pass renewal will cost since I'm not within 60 days yet. Does anyone know? Was hoping to buy renewals before prices went up but that wasn't possible unfortunately.

EDIT: Found it - DVC renewal went from $500 to $517 for Gold Pass. Not great, but could be worse all things considered. Thinking we'll probably buy those as soon as we can (middle of December).

 

[Lain]

I honestly don't know how anyone, who doesn't do what we all do, can afford it.

I think there are still a good number of families who view Disneyland or Disney World as a "once in a lifetime" trip, or maybe once every few years, and not several times a year. I saw some families wearing "First Visit" buttons on Saturday, and felt so sorry for them to have spent all that money to be there and have the park at one of its most crowded days be their first impression of Disneyland.

 

[GlamMistress]

Regarding the tickets... as most of you know, I'm at WDW right now. (Kona Cafe for breakfast soon, yeah!) but good night on the pricing... and the crowds as @Lain wrote. The amount of people here has just been massive and there's no holidays going on and school is in session.

The heat has been just miserable so far. It was hot last October for Food and Wine but not this bad. I'm starting my 3rd day here, and I had to do laundry last night (at midnight) because we've sweat through so many clothes already. 3 showers a day, each.

On Monday I snapped a photo of the ticket pricing at Epcot. Yesterday I snapped a photo of the pricing at Animal Kingdom. I did this so DH could understand and see the price hike. He couldn't believe the $300 jump on the 4 day (and then said, wait, hoppers cost more? I'm like, yeah where have you been? Can you tell who does the planning?)

We've gotten great value out of our APs this year but they expire Tuesday, just after this trip. We've gotten 20 park days each out of them so that is a lot for a couple that doesn't live anywhere near Florida I think.

The parking price hike is egregious - and now the CM are asking for a photo ID at the booths too. Never had that happen before, but now we've been asked each time. (Sea World parking is $22 FYI which is also outlandish).

I really like my SSR room and this resort a lot. I was worried about buying it before because I would never spend thousands sight unseen on something any other time. So now I've stayed here and like it but I worry about the constant ticket increase, over and over which kind of means I don't know what to do: buy DVC as planned or not? I think we'd be on the every other year/AP plan if we do proceed. Too expensive to go yearly.

You just know another price hike is coming when SWL opens. It's not even a question. I don't know how people with kids come here, and that's sad. It's a family place!

 

[striker1064]

The heat has been just miserable so far. It was hot last October for Food and Wine but not this bad. I'm starting my 3rd day here, and I had to do laundry last night (at midnight) because we've sweat through so many clothes already. 3 showers a day, each.

I really like my SSR room and this resort a lot. I was worried about buying it before because I would never spend thousands sight unseen on something any other time. So now I've stayed here and like it but I worry about the constant ticket increase, over and over which kind of means I don't know what to do: buy DVC as planned or not? I think we'd be on the every other year/AP plan if we do proceed. Too expensive to go yearly.

Yeah, it has been unseasonably hot in Florida the past couple weeks (even though it's Florida, it should be cooler than it is). Hoping for some relief for you soon! And for us, we're heading down on 10/28 for a week, and running in the Wine and Dine 5k the following weekend.

The AP discount for DVC is a big perk as long as you can use it, but it doesn't make sense for everyone. Some of our friends really want to buy DVC because of that perk, but they're only looking to buy 75 points and go for a few days per year. It doesn't make sense for them to do that, but it sounds like such a good deal it's hard to see through it.