I love credit cards so much!

[palhockeymomof2]

If you want to keep up do but no pressure. We can update you when back. Hopefully there won’t be any big mews...seems lately all big news has been bad.

You are doing Moonlight Magic right? A review of that would be appreciated.

Thanks...hopefully no more negative URs news...and definitely will report back on the Studios DVC moonlight magic...

 

[Oscar Madison]

Hi all,

You guys are so amazing. I have just tried reading the latest 10 pages in the thread, but just the acronyms are confusing me. I have no idea what is going on but am hoping for some advice!
We only use one credit card at a time, it just works easier for our budget. Last spring, I opened an Amex to get the bonus points for a pair of plane tix. Worked beautifully. Went back to old card, mainly because a lot of places don’t take Amex.
So, now I’m looking to get points for American flights in Dec. and possibly Southwest next summer. And what about the hotel points??? Does credit card hopping get you in trouble?
Again, we carry one card at a time. Might could manage two, but my brain doesn’t work that way.
Looking to maximize airline and possibly hotel points.
No business travel whatsoever. Usually hit $2500-3000 a month on the card.
We both have awesome credit scores.

TIA!

PS - if anyone wants to post a list of common abbreviations that would be super cool too

https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/wiki/glossary

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

Need some help from the experts here about a card for dd!

She is 16, has her own car and drives to and from school and the barn every day (35 miles round trip). She also goes out with friends for meals and does her own clothes shopping.

For now she has my AU card (on my dh's account) on the Disney Visa. I'd like to get dh to get her her own card. Any suggestions? I can help make the minimum spend to get any miles / points.

Application would be in dh's name (dd would be an AU) and he is 0/24. He has the AmEx Platinum, the Starwood AmEx (which he never uses) and the Disney Visa (which he only uses for gas at Costco infrequently). His credit score is over 800.

I was thinking about the CSP for her and then transferring the 50,000 UR points to my account. I'd do the referral (and hopefully get 10,000 UR). Thoughts?

I could also get dh to apply for the Hilton card and get the 125,000 points. We *may* be going to the Maldives in Spring, 2020. I could also apply and get another 125,000 points (I checked and rooms are 95,000 points / night). So we'd have 2 nights, with a bit toward a third night, which we should be able to get in a year.

Dh will not partake in points churning. He is very much a 1 credit card kind of guy . So I have to choose carefully because I have 1 shot to get it right (even this will take some convincing)!

 

[gottalovepluto]

Need some help from the experts here about a card for dd!

She is 16, has her own car and drives to and from school and the barn every day (35 miles round trip). She also goes out with friends for meals and does her own clothes shopping.

For now she has my AU card (on my dh's account) on the Disney Visa. I'd like to get dh to get her her own card. Any suggestions? I can help make the minimum spend to get any miles / points.

Application would be in dh's name (dd would be an AU) and he is 0/24. He has the AmEx Platinum, the Starwood AmEx (which he never uses) and the Disney Visa (which he only uses for gas at Costco infrequently). His credit score is over 800.

I was thinking about the CSP for her and then transferring the 50,000 UR points to my account. I'd do the referral (and hopefully get 10,000 UR). Thoughts?

I could also get dh to apply for the Hilton card and get the 125,000 points. We *may* be going to the Maldives in Spring, 2020. I could also apply and get another 125,000 points (I checked and rooms are 95,000 points / night). So we'd have 2 nights, with a bit toward a third night, which we should be able to get in a year.

Dh will not partake in points churning. He is very much a 1 credit card kind of guy . So I have to choose carefully because I have 1 shot to get it right (even this will take some convincing)!

The CSP sounds like a good call. Simple, annual fee waived year one and you’re familiar with the UR program already.

Imho do not store Hilton points that long. They have started some crazy dynamic changes in their rewards redemptions, they aren’t hyper-inflation status yet but doubling point costs at random hotels overnight is killer if your hotel is the one that gets hit. If that happened to you it sounds like dh might put his foot down permanently so I’d much rather dip toes in with CSP and get a Hilton closer to the potential Maldives trip. A simpler way to look at it is: the Hilton offers are at all-time highs- but so are the point costs for their hotels.

 

[KSR0330]

Just thinking ahead as I continue to wait on my CIC app (now into day 8 ). I'm thinking about a hotel card. There's a Residence Inn by Marriott near my DS's college campus that we sometimes stay at. I'd like to be able to earn some extra points for stays there and use them sometime in the future for a Swan or Dolphin stay. Would I be better off with a Chase Marriott or AMEX SPG?

 

[magickingdomprincess]

I got approved for the US Bank Biz Edge card! Should receive $200 bonus for $1k MSR, plus hopefully another $200 for employee card and another $1k MSR. It took almost 2 weeks for the approval, and still waiting on the card but pretty excited. Also $40 of my $50 pending RMN posted overnight so ready to try for round 2 (I had Disney gc's from HD, WG, and CVS. Merchandise purchase from Academy posted also, and clothes purchase from Kohl's is still pending).

On the not so positive note I had a couple of RMN fails yesterday. Went to the mall yesterday for a few items, one of which was getting DD5 new shoes. Planned on using the RMN offer from Journey's Kids. Get there, find shoes she likes, and doh! I forgot to bring the card that's linked! Went to the car since I don't get reception in the mall, tried changing linked cards but it wouldn't allow me to (or I couldn't figure out how). Well, ok, DH is with me, he can install on his phone and I linked one of the cards I did have with me. Go in and buy the shoes, which are $19.99. I thought tax counted, but so far we haven't seen a purchase go pending, and looking at other purchases it appears tax doesn't count! So, pretty much all that work for nothing since $.01 short! Oh well, at least we got a good deal on the shoes. On the bright side now I can double-up on Disney gc's using DH's RMN account.

 

[Albort]

Just thinking ahead as I continue to wait on my CIC app (now into day 8 ). I'm thinking about a hotel card. There's a Residence Inn by Marriott near my DS's college campus that we sometimes stay at. I'd like to be able to earn some extra points for stays there and use them sometime in the future for a Swan or Dolphin stay. Would I be better off with a Chase Marriott or AMEX SPG?

in my opinion, i think the best card out there right now for Marriott is SPG biz card.
Upside:
6x @ marriott, 4x at gas stations/restaurant, 2x everything else. (it has an extra category over personal cards)
Amex offers - They have a ton of promotions here (this is an extra bonus over Marriott Biz card)

downside:
its an amex card (marriott cards are visa) so it could be accepted less in the US or out of the country.

im not sure how others have considered.

 

[magickingdomprincess]

Getting ready to pull the trigger on DVC add-on. I think it does but just to make sure - does DVC purchase directly with Disney count as travel on CSP? Also, anyone have experience if it's an issue to use a cc that is someone else's name? The CSP is in DH's number, and not sure if he'll be on the contract or not (I have two other small contracts and he's not on either of those, so not sure if it matters to put him on this one or not). TIA!

 

[gottalovepluto]

Anything big I’ve missed over the last week por favor? Last I heard chase bonuses were starting to post so yay for that!

I’m back from taking the fam to Disneyland for their first Halloween & my best friend joined us at the party. Much fun!! Churning wise I got saver airfare on AA Reno to Lax for 7.5k/person/way. With 4 people I was thrilled to find that availability a couple months out! I used bank bonuses and gift card savings for the hotel (DLH CL *faint* but no regrets!). AP discounts helped on the party tickets.

Went to Campanile on our PPs in LAX T4. Right next to the escalator when coming from T5 and at the escalator you can catch the bus to the remote terminal so that was super handy. Campanile was solid. $28 person got me a split of Chandon and turkey sandwich (which i actually liked). Others got the burgers, which were not cooked enough so order a level more cooked than you want. Said we were on 2 PP cards, server wasn’t happy as they’ve been having issues and asked to run the cards right away to make sure the worked- cell reception is REALLY bad there. She got both through so we each had $56 to use. Prices charged did not match the menu so that was very annoying and potentially illegal? Idk- at least for the Chandon that was $14.50 not the stated $13.99 and the ultimate totals seemed higher than they should have been but I didn’t have time to argue or double check & our credits covered each tab anyway.

Trip was great, pretty much the only point that super sucked was AA briefly lost 3 of our 4 bags at LAX. They were found an hour and a half later still out at the satellite terminal for AA. I wrote a complaint wondering if I’d get some points but no luck, just a “this happens sometimes, our job is complicated” type “apology”. Well, the flight was basically free & we got our bags (thank goodness) so I’m not pushing that.

 

[miztressuz]

I got approved for the US Bank Biz Edge card! Should receive $200 bonus for $1k MSR, plus hopefully another $200 for employee card and another $1k MSR. It took almost 2 weeks for the approval, and still waiting on the card but pretty excited. Also $40 of my $50 pending RMN posted overnight so ready to try for round 2 (I had Disney gc's from HD, WG, and CVS. Merchandise purchase from Academy posted also, and clothes purchase from Kohl's is still pending).

On the not so positive note I had a couple of RMN fails yesterday. Went to the mall yesterday for a few items, one of which was getting DD5 new shoes. Planned on using the RMN offer from Journey's Kids. Get there, find shoes she likes, and doh! I forgot to bring the card that's linked! Went to the car since I don't get reception in the mall, tried changing linked cards but it wouldn't allow me to (or I couldn't figure out how). Well, ok, DH is with me, he can install on his phone and I linked one of the cards I did have with me. Go in and buy the shoes, which are $19.99. I thought tax counted, but so far we haven't seen a purchase go pending, and looking at other purchases it appears tax doesn't count! So, pretty much all that work for nothing since $.01 short! Oh well, at least we got a good deal on the shoes. On the bright side now I can double-up on Disney gc's using DH's RMN account.

Congratulations on US Bank approval!

 

[KSR0330]

in my opinion, i think the best card out there right now for Marriott is SPG biz card.
Upside:
6x @ marriott, 4x at gas stations/restaurant, 2x everything else. (it has an extra category over personal cards)
Amex offers - They have a ton of promotions here (this is an extra bonus over Marriott Biz card)

downside:
its an amex card (marriott cards are visa) so it could be accepted less in the US or out of the country.

im not sure how others have considered.

Thanks, Albort, that looks great. I want it now! Since it's an AMEX, can I apply for it now with the pending CIC app, or is that a terrible idea?

 

[Albort]

Thanks, Albort, that looks great. I want it now! Since it's an AMEX, can I apply for it now with the pending CIC app, or is that a terrible idea?

amex biz cards dont hit your credit report(or at least it shouldnt). i wouldnt take that risk just in case(although amex does report to credit bureaus super slow).
Only concern left is hitting the minimums... CIC is 3k? spg biz i think is $5k? your looking at a total of 8k to spend in 3 months.

 

[GlamMistress]

amex plat, u pick domestic partners, not internationally. so Southwest, AA, Delta, United, etc.
you selected American to pay for your baggage fees. You pay AA the fees, not BA. I did exactly this when i booked BA on AA metal from LAX to SEA.

returning home, why couldnt it be the same route?

Yeah I figured it would be American, thanks. I just got the plat the other day so I haven't selected my airline yet. Was waiting to see what I needed. I usually do Delta gift cards.

There are no Avios flights available to me on the return after my Disney cruise. I can't take the first departure of the day - since I have to wait for the cruise to get to port and then give myself time to the airport, etc.

 

[Calfan]

You get the free checked bags because of both reasons - First class tickets include bags, and the card gets you free checked bags simply by being a cardholder. [This is somewhat different from the United card that requires purchase of the fare on the United card to qualify for free checked bags.] With AA you don't need to pay any part of the fare with the card, you get free 1st checked (domestic) bag simply by being a cardholder (at least 7 days prior to travel your FF number has to be on your reservation). You don't even have to show it to anyone. I would pay for the fees/taxes with your CSR since it has superior travel protections.

A personal Barclays would get you a 10% redeemed miles back per calendar year up to a maximum of 10,000 miles. The 60K mile offer on it right now is pretty good.

You can gain more miles through AA's shopping portal and dining program. In a pinch, you can always buy AA miles (although wait for a sale) to top off your account. The cheapest I've seen works out to $0.015 per mile if you buy enough miles (usually though it will be around $0.019 per mile). I can MS and have it end up being $0.014 per mile.

Are there Chase cards you prioritize that are making you watch your 5/24 status?

Interesting on the free bags on AA just for having the card. I am used to Alaska and United where you have to pay for the tickets with the card. So for AA, would the free bag benefit cover everyone on my reservation (i.e., my family of 4) even if I pay with my CSR? I do have an AA Citi credit card.

On the RMN front, I purchased a $25 GC at Walgreens last Monday (9/17), and the $10 finally paid yesterday. I relinked and just went to Walgreens and bought a $20 GC and an adorable Sally glass from the Nightmare Before Christmas that I did not need at all but acted as filler for this purchase since I'm putt it on my Biz Gold to meet MSR, plus was *free* with the RMN award, lol. Hoping this award will pay out soon enough to let me do one more Walgreens purchase before the end of the month. There is a matching Jack Skellington glass that I *need*. I also did purchases at Home Depot and Staples last week that are still pending in RMN.

Does anyone have experience with online RMN awards? I made an online purchase at Macy's last week as well, and I linked to the Macy's site through the RMN website after activating an offer, but nothing is pending. I'm wondering if this is just a fail or if online offers take longer to process and go pending for some reason. If this doesn't work, I'm just going to stick with the inshore offers. It was an item I wanted anyway and was on a great discount offer, so no biggie if RMN doesn't come through. But it would be nice if it did....

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Interesting on the free bags on AA just for having the card. I am used to Alaska and United where you have to pay for the tickets with the card. So for AA, would the free bag benefit cover everyone on my reservation (i.e., my family of 4) even if I pay with my CSR? I do have an AA Citi credit card.

On the RMN front, I purchased a $25 GC at Walgreens last Monday (9/17), and the $10 finally paid yesterday. I relinked and just went to Walgreens and bought a $20 GC and an adorable Sally glass from the Nightmare Before Christmas that I did not need at all but acted as filler for this purchase since I'm putt it on my Biz Gold to meet MSR, plus was *free* with the RMN award, lol. Hoping this award will pay out soon enough to let me do one more Walgreens purchase before the end of the month. There is a matching Jack Skellington glass that I *need*. I also did purchases at Home Depot and Staples last week that are still pending in RMN.

Does anyone have experience with online RMN awards? I made an online purchase at Macy's last week as well, and I linked to the Macy's site through the RMN website after activating an offer, but nothing is pending. I'm wondering if this is just a fail or if online offers take longer to process and go pending for some reason. If this doesn't work, I'm just going to stick with the inshore offers. It was an item I wanted anyway and was on a great discount offer, so no biggie if RMN doesn't come through. But it would be nice if it did....

For AA, yes free bags x4 people, all on the same reservation. If you book them separately from yours, they will be charged for bags.

As for RMN, I did a HD purchase online, $20 off $100 on 9/3. In my app, it said “waiting for HD to tell us you made a purchase” so I figured it was not gonna happen. Pleasantly surprised to find $20 in my RMN account this morning. Posted overnight. (20 days though)

 

[GlamMistress]

Pleasantly surprised to find $20 in my RMN account this morning. Posted overnight. (20 days though)

20 days? Good grief! I hope the rest of mine don't take that long!

 

[have2getaway]

I applied for CIC and was approved instantly on line. I am still thinking about applying for the CIP or CSP and referring DH to apply as well, but have heard it is best to wait 2-3 months before doing so. My question is, if the CIC doesn’t show on my personal credit, would it matter if I applied right away for the CSP, or even in a month? Other than, of course, having to meet both of the spend requirements?

 

[magickingdomprincess]

Congratulations on US Bank approval!

Thank you! Love the dance party!

 

[have2getaway]

So, I signed up for Reddit and was going to list the one and only card that was listed as a “refer a friend” option, which is the Disney Rewards Visa. Anyway, after I provided my information on the Chase site, it said the promotion was not available to me. Any idea why if it’s listed as a choice under the Chase “Refer a friend” list?

 

[wisconsinmom]

If you mean a literal DD, then that loophole ended last week.

If you mean getting a Biz/personal over 3-4 months then that still works as usual.

I'm sure there are people who can tell you how to do this best but off the top I'd recommend the Barclaycard arrival plus for your DH:
https://cards.barclaycardus.com/cards/barclaycard-arrival-plus-world-elite-mastercard/

This is a true chip and pin (which is helpful in Europe at train stations/subway stations/fast food kiosk ordering...and if you meet the MSR of $5000 in 3 months you'll earn $600 cash back which can be used for travel charges (I'd think that would more than cover train tickets but I haven't looked up their prices recently).

I suspect AirBnB would also code as "travel" but I'd fact check that one a little bit more.

Or...you could keep DH with chase...you could refer him to his own chase freedom (referral points)or he could obtain another chase business card.

It looks like there are lots of options.

Yes, it would be the Biz/Personal for the SW cards.

The Barclaycard seems like a good option for DH. I just might think about if I want him to get any Chase cards before that one, so I need to make a plan for timing.