I love credit cards so much! v5.0 - 2022 (see first page for add'l details)

[SleepyatDVC]

So, I have to go into NYC tomorrow on my own. And I want to use Lyft or Uber instead of the subway.

I have a CSP but DH has CSR. I think the Reserve has better benefits with Lyft? 10x bonus? So, I should use Lyft over Uber...

I need to download the Lyft APP. I think I just use his CSR to pay, even though he won't be with me...

OTOH, grabbing a yellow cab outside grand central station seems the easiest and maybe even cheaper based on a new segment... I just won't get the bonus points.

Am I overthinking this?

 

[SleepyatDVC]

So, I just had my DD refer me and downloaded the Lyft APP and used my DH's CSR cards as payment. Do people upload their profile picture to the APP? Is it necessary?

 

[IFlossU]

So, I just had my DD refer me and downloaded the Lyft APP and used my DH's CSR cards as payment. Do people upload their profile picture to the APP? Is it necessary?

I’ve never added a photo. They always confirm my name when getting picked up.

 

[spacerangerqueen]

I'm on my 4th it broke new google watch is coming out so I'm not sure I even want to go back to them and get 20-25% off (this is what they give me unless you did better.
of course, I bought it in April so even my AMEX double warranty won't apply. I'm with you though the only reason I replace mine is that they keep breaking.

They gave me 25% off the first time and I when I went through their link the Versa lite was showing for crazy cheap, so I snagged it. Last year, when the lite died, they gave me 35% off.
Definitely interested in the Google watch. My DH has the Samsung watch and it went nuts and turned off its water proof system when we were at Typhoon Lagoon. Samsung gave him a discount on a new one when he was seeking out the warranty info to file a claim with the CC so he decided to take it and not file. I guess no fitness tracker watch is very long lasting!

 

[tink1970]

Hello from Spain!

Thanks to points/miles I was able to schedule a last minute trip (as in arranged Sunday, flew out Weds) from my hometown to Madrid on Delta (thank God for MRs!!!), spent the night at the MAD Hilton Airport on Hilton points, flew from MAD to Seville with BA points, and am now at the Querencia de Seville, an Autograph Collection hotel by Marriott (this is on cash). My DD was in Luxembourg and lost her wallet in Brussels and her father and I weren't sure she would be able to retrieve her wallet so just in case I flew to Seville where she was heading on a grant after Luxembourg. (AMS is a train wreck right now and Luxembourg is a small airport with not a lot of flights so meeting her in Seville just made more sense, in case y'all were wondering.)

Fortunately her high school/college French allowed her to communicate with the Belgium authorities and retrieve her wallet but I didn't know that when I was making plans.

That said, just felt it was a good reminder that a stash of points/miles is always a good idea (I had an "emergency stash" of about 350K MRs, as well as Marriott and Hilton). I transferred (eek!) 325K skymiles to DD's account of 50K and used 375K for a J flight from my hometown to MAD ( you can use other people's skymiles for tickets-just have to check "I'm not traveling" and then put the information of the person who is traveling before checkout), used 60K Hilton points for the airport Hilton, used MRs to transfer to BA and fly from MAD to Seville and her father is splitting the cost of my cash stay at the Marriott. All in all, I definitely paid too much for my Delta flight (lol) but I ensured my platinum sky medallion status for another year and slept a bit in a a nice seat, so not going to complain. United wanted fewer points (between 155k-275K) but with 3 layovers so Delta for the "win."

I also believe being Hilton Diamond was helpful-I was able to check in at 9:45 am to my room and had access to the Executive Lounge, which provided water, coca cola light and a light dinner. Ditto for being Titanium with Bonvoy-checked into my room here in Seville at 10:30 am and am enjoying free breakfast daily as one of my perks (that or 750 bonvoy points? No brainer!). I was also offered $10 credit in the hotel restaurant for lunch or dinner/day or 1000k points-I took the points since the hotel restaurant menu isn't my thing.

TL;DR- I'm in this game for luxury travel as well as emergencies. Flexible currency is helpful, I still think MRs are the best flexible currency for me and loyalty in a company or two can really pay off.

Now for a siesta in 104 degree weather!

 

[calypso726]

I was happy to see I had an upgrade offer from my Amex green which was a previously downgraded Amex Plat. 25K MRs for $2k spend. That will give me $400 un UTB between this year and next year, $150 at least in Sak's GCs and $400 in FHR credits, $240 in entertainment credits, $200 in Uber credits etc. Not a bad haul. Then, I saw I was targeted for a NLL 160K MR Biz Plat. Great timing since I just took advantage of the Amex MR 25% bonus transfer to Air France and booked one of our flights in business lie flat seats to Tahiti.

So far, I have been able to book our nights at the Conrad Bora Bora Nui and the Hilton Moorea Lagoon Resort & Spa successfully. Return and positioning flights are still in the works. It's exciting to be planning international travel! I'm still giddy over Dubai and the Al Maha later this year looking forward to planning a pre post Med cruise cruise adventure.

 

[AmyAnne]

I am on my 3rd Fitbit, all versions of the Versa. All of them have crapped out at around 2 years. Fitbit has given me a discount on a new one each time it has happened. The first time I was able to get a complete refund through my credit card with the extended warranty coverage. The second time I had put it on a business card that I had canceled by the time the Fitbit died. I thought there was no way the new one would crap out too! But also it came out to like $80 for the new one so all told $80 for 4 years of watches wasn't terrible. I know you are using a credit, but highly recommend that anyone paying out of pocket, put it on a card with warranty coverage that you plan to keep longer term. That said, I tried looking at other options, and going without for a bit when my second one crapped out last summer, and ultimately bought a Versa 2 with the credit. I just became too dependent on those watch notifications!

I'm on my 4th it broke new google watch is coming out so I'm not sure I even want to go back to them and get 20-25% off (this is what they give me unless you did better.
of course, I bought it in April so even my AMEX double warranty won't apply. I'm with you though the only reason I replace mine is that they keep breaking.

If you are looking for an activity watch I would go with a Garmin, they seem to last longer.

Ugh this is why I buy electronic things at Costco--I just get whatever they sell. I probably will just get whatever is the cheapest to use the Dell credit and see if I even like having this sort of thing.

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

I was happy to see I had an upgrade offer from my Amex green which was a previously downgraded Amex Plat. 25K MRs for $2k spend. That will give me $400 un UTB between this year and next year, $150 at least in Sak's GCs and $400 in FHR credits, $240 in entertainment credits, $200 in Uber credits etc. Not a bad haul. Then, I saw I was targeted for a NLL 160K MR Biz Plat. Great timing since I just took advantage of the Amex MR 25% bonus transfer to Air France and booked one of our flights in business lie flat seats to Tahiti.

So far, I have been able to book our nights at the Conrad Bora Bora Nui and the Hilton Moorea Lagoon Resort & Spa successfully. Return and positioning flights are still in the works. It's exciting to be planning international travel! I'm still giddy over Dubai and the Al Maha later this year looking forward to planning a pre post Med cruise cruise adventure.

I just booked my flight from Dubai (after 5 nights at Al Maha) to the Maldives using Avios on Qatar Air first class for 52,500 pts and $103.00. (Qatar is leasing 777s from Cathay Pacific while their A380s are out of service), so while this only a 4h55m flight (leaving at 3:00am) I am still excited for it! Off to cancel the flight I had booked on Etihad using AC pts (which is direct on Etihad from Abu Dhabi but in biz class). Booked a flight from Dubai to Doha, 3 hr layover, then Doha to Male, for 40,000 AA pts and $68.90 in first class (odd that this flight costs less points as well as less cash).

 

[calypso726]

I just booked my flight from Dubai (after 5 nights at Al Maha) to the Maldives using Avios on Qatar Air first class for 52,500 pts and $103.00. (Qatar is leasing 777s from Cathay Pacific while their A380s are out of service), so while this only a 4h55m flight (leaving at 3:00am) I am still excited for it! Off to cancel the flight I had booked on Etihad using AC pts (which is direct on Etihad from Abu Dhabi but in biz class). Booked a flight from Dubai to Doha, 3 hr layover, then Doha to Male, for 40,000 AA pts and $68.90 in first class (odd that this flight costs less points as well as less cash).

Oh that’s wonderful! Love the Al Maha! I’m sure you will have an amazing time! I’d like to make our way back to the Maldives again and do another stay at the Conrad Rangali followed by one at the Waldorf Astoria.

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

Thought I'd share a mistake fare I was alerted to, which could go away at any moment. $2.7k RT in First class and mixed biz class from JFK to Bali booked through Delta on Korean Air metal. Normal price apparently $15k. Sporatic dates now through October. Also available from BOS, MCO and IAD for higher rates.

This rate is also showing on Amex Travel, but at $2300ish with the intl airline program discount, or 235k points. If you have a 35% rebate, that would be like paying 153k RT, but you'd also earn 5x points on AmexTravel and points with Delta.

I have no experience with any of this, just thought I'd share.

 

[Alexle2007]

Any thought on mixing Ring Floodlight Cams with a Google Nest doorbell and Google hub. It would be nice to have the same ecosystem but trying to find a use for Dell credits.

 

[havaneselover]

Any thought on mixing Ring Floodlight Cams with a Google Nest doorbell and Google hub. It would be nice to have the same ecosystem but trying to find a use for Dell credits.

I have a floodlight cam above my garage and like it but mixing ecosystems sounds like a headache to me. I want it all centralized in one app.

 

[reliev]

I have a floodlight cam above my garage and like it but mixing ecosystems sounds like a headache to me. I want it all centralized in one app.

agreed 100% mixing ecosystems is a terrible idea also the new google home is terrible I haven't added more cameras yet because I don't think it's that great.

 

[havaneselover]

First trip to Staples is complete. Tried to convert to money orders but Food Lion's system was wonky (we had bad storms here so power had gone out several times). I'm hoping for at least four more successful Staples trips this week.

 

[wisconsinmom]

Would you take up your last 5/24 spot with the Amex Gold 100K offer? I like the idea of the MSR only being $4000. I'd be at 5/24 until September.

My DH is in AmEx pop up jail or else I'd have him get the card since he's at 3/24 and going down to 2/24 next month.

I really need a MSR to work on!

 

[disneybirds]

Any thought on mixing Ring Floodlight Cams with a Google Nest doorbell and Google hub. It would be nice to have the same ecosystem but trying to find a use for Dell credits.

I don't know anything about mixing ecosystems, but I am not a huge fan of the Ring Floodlight cam we installed last year. Ours goes off constantly due to rain and any critter that walks through the yard. Sometimes it just goes off without any apparent movement. We unfortunately installed it near the guest bedroom doors and it went off all night for our first house guest. My DH has to disable it when we have guests since it seems to have a mind of its own. We have the ring camera on the front door and love it. Not sure I would recommend the one with the floodlight.

 

[afan]

Would you take up your last 5/24 spot with the Amex Gold 100K offer? I like the idea of the MSR only being $4000. I'd be at 5/24 until September.

My DH is in AmEx pop up jail or else I'd have him get the card since he's at 3/24 and going down to 2/24 next month.

I really need a MSR to work on!

If it's only until Sept why not. Unless there's a chase biz card you would get in that time span. Plus Amex takes 1 to 2 statements to report so if something came up you might still be 4/24. But also wouldn't worry since p2 is under.

 

[smallsy]

What is an easy way to use the CSR travel credit (GC or something)? I've never had to try this hard before, but we just have nothing coming up. We booked a hotel room for next weekend in Charleston, but may end up having to cancel.

 

[amcc]

I know a lot of you have teens…my 15 year old got a job (yay! Hope the 17 year old follows) and he will be paid via direct deposit. Most of the accounts for that age seeem to be brokerage custodial accounts. Anyone have a good account in your child’s name, that accepts direct deposit? I’d prefer not to get the deposit into one of my accounts just for simplicity sake. Thanks!!

 

[amcc]

What is an easy way to use the CSR travel credit (GC or something)? I've never had to try this hard before, but we just have nothing coming up. We booked a hotel room for next weekend in Charleston, but may end up having to cancel.

Do you have a toll system you regularly use? We always load up on Sunpass if we need to spend travel funds. It’s not glamorous but it works.