I love credit cards so much!

[havaneselover]

For anyone who uses instacart, there is a promo for $35 off $35 BABYCENTERPARENTS2018. I have never used it before but will be getting a delivery from Wegman's tonight

ETA: There's also a $55 off $55 offer for new users. I can't post it because it's a referral but I think it should be easy to find.

 

[calypso726]

I have kind of a general question: which form of credit card "currency" is best for which transfer-partner situation? I understand part is very subjective depending on your travel habits and needs, but is there a THIS is better for THAT kind of thing? For example, I know UR--->Hyatt beats UR--->Marriott is good because the Hyatt point requirements are low.

Chase UR?
Amex MR?
Citi TYP?

We only have UR now and are thinking about expanding to MR in light of the changes to PRG---4x grocery would be really valuable for us (plus omg Shake Shack ) I see the 50K offer incognito.

Generally speaking, Amex MR is said to be better for airlines, especially international travel according to most bloggers. They often have bonus transfers to airlines and UR never does. Again, this is very subjective as you pointed out. I try to keep MR balances as high as UR as I value both nearly equally now that SPG card earning structure is dead.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

We watch it on Netflix. If it ever comes off Netflix I'll probably have to buy the seasons. I find myself talking like Chandler a lot and we make Friends' jokes all the time lol. Today on Facebook I saw a picture of Ross with a Nike logo and it said "Just Pivot"

Whenever we move a piece of furniture I’m totally yelling “Pivot! pivot!”

 

[Judique]

I like to have them on hand in case I find myself in a sticky situation walking home past midnight.

In that case you need the Ritz card. That thing is truly a weapon.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

DoC is harsh on this one. He calls the offer "garbage" and says "this offer sucks". Ummm...it's the standard offer now with a 0% Intro.

I'll also say that I'd much prefer to support a fellow DISer and use a support link vs. a 0% period. Using one of these Intro APR periods just hits my utilization and could hurt my credit score. Others may feel differently but I buy what I can afford and I pay it off, lol!

I pay off cards every month but have occasionally used 0% offers when an emergency hits. Like my basement flooded. Although tbh, I just save any 0% offers on cards I currently have and if I need one, it’s there. But if I had a big unplanned expense come up, I might look for 0% card to allow me to pay it off over a few months, especially if I was waiting for insurance money to come through. It’s not a general churner habit though

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Ok! I don’t feel so bad about my wasted $600 in 5x spend!

I’m not even going to use all of my 10% off at Staples & Lowe’s Amex offers. I just don’t need 1000s more in GCs. Plus I have a first year Discover so will have 10% at wholesale clubs for Q4.

 

[hsmamato2]

question about the BCP? Dh called and pc'd to the BCE the other day- I still see the AF on the acct page and it's due to be paid soon.... what's up with that?

 

[Lain]

So, whats the violence/ickyness factor with Jack Ryan? I'm kind of a wimp about blood, so I like to have a heads up before trying a new series. Also, how appropriate would it be to watch with a teenaged girl? We're always looking for something to watch together, but its kinda tough to find stuff that works. We did Lost in Space, which worked well. K, now I really sound like a wimp! DH and I watched a bunch of the Americans this summer (while our teen was away), and I thought that was good (although the ickyness factor got to me a few times). That is not a show we are watching as a family anytime soon!

I definitely couldn’t watch it in front of DD5. There’s a lot of gun violence and explosions, some hand-to-hand combat, people get bloodied, lots of people get shot up and blown up. There are at least three sexually suggestive scenes that I recall.

 

[LuckyMamaInDE]

You know I'm an MR cheerleader ) but I don't find any of them especially good for 1:! hotel transfers (or 1:2 Hilton in the case of MRs). I did use my URs for hotels via the travel portal because 1.5 was helpful at the time. The *exemption for me is when TYP (of which I have 346 and Citi can keep) and MRs have bonuses for airline redemptions and that can bump up your points/miles in those partner airlines.

That said, it never hurts to diversify your portfolio, and the incognito 50K is awesome...I'd definitely consider if it works within your credit card plan.

ps also...pink

So you use your MR only for airline partners? Do you find one airline or another to be a better choice? (I can't remember if you are a Delta hostage, sorry) I'm wondering if X airline is better for Europe using one type (UR/MR) and if Y airline is better for Asia. Or maybe it just depends lol

 

[LuckyMamaInDE]

Generally speaking, Amex MR is said to be better for airlines, especially international travel according to most bloggers. They often have bonus transfers to airlines and UR never does. Again, this is very subjective as you pointed out. I try to keep MR balances as high as UR as I value both nearly equally now that SPG card earning structure is dead.

Thank you!

 

[Lain]

I’m not even going to use all of my 10% off at Staples & Lowe’s Amex offers. I just don’t need 1000s more in GCs. Plus I have a first year Discover so will have 10% at wholesale clubs for Q4.

Oh! I forgot that I still have about $800 left on the Lowe’s Amex Offer and my wife hasn’t even touched her $1k cap. Yeah... gonna just let 5x UR on more GCs from Walgreens go.

 

[striker1064]

In that case you need the Ritz card. That thing is truly a weapon.

Words cannot describe how relieved I am to be finished with that card. Never been so happy to throw a card in the sock drawer.

Couldn't throw it too hard though, risk putting a hole in the dresser.

 

[Judique]

If I'm considering staying at a couple of Hyatts next year, would it make sense to apply for the Chase Hyatt card so I can save my URs for other redemptions? Does anyone have the card and have an opinion on it?

I have the Hyatt card but got it when it had 40K points and a free night. I've not stayed on any free night redemption yet. And I've used it a few times when Chase threw a promo over my way. I think the Hyatt redemptions are excellent value and for $75 a year will keep the card and try to do some spend on it to keep my points up once I use some. I see transferring my Ur's to Hyatt as something I might do in future, as the Ocean City Hyatt I will use will have $400-$500 rooms in summer, and the redemption currently is 15K. So that is 2.6 to 3.3 per point value, especially if transferring UR's.

I should say was 15K before they didn't open on time. Now the website is not showing any points values, so it could rise, but the nearby Dewey Beach location is 15K.

 

[speedyfishy]

For anyone who uses instacart, there is a promo for $35 off $35 BABYCENTERPARENTS2018. I have never used it before but will be getting a delivery from Wegman's tonight

Thank you so much for sharing. I just ordered a bunch of groceries and only had to pay $7 including tip and $2 delivery charge.

 

[Lain]

I like to have them on hand in case I find myself in a sticky situation walking home past midnight.

My wife knows kung fu and can be pretty deadly with a rose gold metal card.

 

[Stefien Quix]

Hey all, question about applying for a Chase card. Do you know which credit union Chase checks when they make credit inquiries?

I froze all of mine after the huge data hacks back in the day. I was able to unfreeze Equifax and Transunion, but I can't find or remember the pin for Experian so I'm going to have to snail mail them my personal information to prove it's me to get them to unfreeze theirs. If it's the first two, I'm good. If it's Experian, I'm a have to wait.

 

[hsmamato2]

So I have a bit of a dilemma.

We only have a few more days left in September and Q3. We have about $600 left to max out on our Chase Freedom. I’m seriously considering letting it go and not maxing out the 5x UR.

If I were to max out the CF, it’d be with GCs from Walgreens. But we’re already floating a lot of cash in GCs and we’ve actually been trying to spend that down.

I’m also working on MSRs for the SPG Lux and Biz Plat, so I’ve preferred to use those cards to buy MCGCs at grocery stores instead to take advantage of the last days of the Plastiq Masterpass promo.

Plus, I have the CIC, which earns me 5x UR on GCs at office supply stores and Gyft year round, whenever I need it, and not limited to this quarter. Third-party GC prices and selection are pretty much the same. And although fees may be higher and denominations lower on prepaid cards at office supply stores than at Walgreens, OD/OM/Staples are frequently running deals on VGCs and MCGCs. Even if I really jump on these deals, I doubt I’ll ever hit the $25k max limit on the CIC’s 5x UR category.

With next quarter’s CF bonus category including Chase Pay, I still have the opportunity to earn 5x UR on GCs from Best Buy and online at Walmart.

And with the PRG set to earn 4x MR at supermarkets beginning 10/4, there’s another opportunity to buy GCs with a significant bonus.

Thoughts?

I'm the same here.... I have 3 FR to max,and I only hit about 1 1/2 so far- too much other stuff going on and with the upcoming quarters I want to hit the ground running with all 3 plus Discover.... I've left points ont the table before so it doesn't bother me at all. Plus I'm focused on my SPG spend at the moment

 

[CyndiLouWho]

I have never had an American Express for fear that not enough places would accept it. Is that no longer the case? Are more companies accepting AMEX?

I find Amex a little harder to meet MSR as there are a few places that don’t take Amex. Off the top of my head, the vet, park district (camp & sports) local utilities, don’t take Amex. Pretty much every restaurant around here does but we don’t eat out that much.

I totally get that! I think I yelled at the tv during S1 of Stranger things when they were doing CPR. I was like, "That wasn't the procedure for CPR in the 80's!!!"

That’s me in any medical series. ER, Grays Anatomy, etc. Although I kind of enjoy the critiquing, no one likes to watch with me. Lol.

 

[amalone1013]

So I have a bit of a dilemma.

We only have a few more days left in September and Q3. We have about $600 left to max out on our Chase Freedom. I’m seriously considering letting it go and not maxing out the 5x UR.

If I were to max out the CF, it’d be with GCs from Walgreens. But we’re already floating a lot of cash in GCs and we’ve actually been trying to spend that down.

I’m also working on MSRs for the SPG Lux and Biz Plat, so I’ve preferred to use those cards to buy MCGCs at grocery stores instead to take advantage of the last days of the Plastiq Masterpass promo.

Plus, I have the CIC, which earns me 5x UR on GCs at office supply stores and Gyft year round, whenever I need it, and not limited to this quarter. Third-party GC prices and selection are pretty much the same. And although fees may be higher and denominations lower on prepaid cards at office supply stores than at Walgreens, OD/OM/Staples are frequently running deals on VGCs and MCGCs. Even if I really jump on these deals, I doubt I’ll ever hit the $25k max limit on the CIC’s 5x UR category.

With next quarter’s CF bonus category including Chase Pay, I still have the opportunity to earn 5x UR on GCs from Best Buy and online at Walmart.

And with the PRG set to earn 4x MR at supermarkets beginning 10/4, there’s another opportunity to buy GCs with a significant bonus.

Thoughts?

I've got some parallels. About $500 to go on Freedom. I'll do another $100 in gas on it but that's it. I'd also be buying GCs to max it out.

I've still got $400 or $500 in Visa gift cards from staples and Safeway, which I might end up using for the BB/Swagbucks deal. Almost halfway through the SPG Lux MSR, few hundred to go on Hilton Biz. I haven't used the BB Chase Pay promo yet either, so if I float another $400 in gift cards I might as well get an extra UR point. And I've still got quite a bit left in the 10% off AMEX Staples/Lowe's offers, which has been good for grocery purchases, and will probably move to gas since I can use a Kroger gift card at their pumps. And that's been good for other things too. I'll probably try to get all gift cards for Christmas before those offers end/I use them up. Plus if I can use Samsung Pay with Chase Pay for Q4, that will get maxed no problem.

I mean, if I don't max out the Freedom at Walgreens buying medicine and Gatorade due to the cold I picked up thanks to that Tesla guy.

 

[DisneyMandC]

I've got some parallels. About $500 to go on Freedom. I'll do another $100 in gas on it but that's it. I'd also be buying GCs to max it out.

I've still got $400 or $500 in Visa gift cards from staples and Safeway, which I might end up using for the BB/Swagbucks deal. Almost halfway through the SPG Lux MSR, few hundred to go on Hilton Biz. I haven't used the BB Chase Pay promo yet either, so if I float another $400 in gift cards I might as well get an extra UR point. And I've still got quite a bit left in the 10% off AMEX Staples/Lowe's offers, which has been good for grocery purchases, and will probably move to gas since I can use a Kroger gift card at their pumps. And that's been good for other things too. I'll probably try to get all gift cards for Christmas before those offers end/I use them up. Plus if I can use Samsung Pay with Chase Pay for Q4, that will get maxed no problem.

I mean, if I don't max out the Freedom at Walgreens buying medicine and Gatorade due to the cold I picked up thanks to that Tesla guy.

I spent a bunch at Walgreens last week too thanks to that Tesla guy. Cough drops and Mucinex galore. I'm another one that's no where even close to Q3 max. I've made a couple trips to Walgreens and a couple gas purchases, but it's been hard to justify buying anything there when I was still working on the 10% back at BBY and 10% back on Exxon, which is still good through November. With an Exxon right next to my work and my house, it's been easier and more cost saving to use that.