I love credit cards so much!

[gottalovepluto]

So if one is wanting to do DL for the first time, should they wait until WOC is back in business?

Eh. I like it, fun & moving as long as I can hustle up the money for the dessert party otherwise I pass. DL still has a lot to offer and heaven knows what changes will happen by the time SWL opens next summer. (Pardon my skepticism but I just found out the gumbo/salad starters are now SEVEN DOLLAR upcharges at Blue Bayou & I am in system shock. Things. Change. )

 

[gottalovepluto]

...Given that flights are relatively easy, I'm sitting here wondering why I haven't been to Iceland yet . . .

Well now I’m wondering too, why haven’t you been to Iceland yet @pillow ? I need somebody else to live Iceland trips vicariously through than only @calypso726 because it’s definitely not fitting in my next year’s travel plans!

 

[gottalovepluto]

Yes - two auto loans (both paid in full in the past 12 months), and one credit card I've had for 5+ years with USAA. Credit scores are in the 720-740 range.

Hmm, call back and have no fear you’re already denied so you can’t get double denied. Some reps just spout the company line because either they don’t know how to do anything else or they don’t want to do anything else. HUCA (Hang Up Call Again) is key with Chase. Took me 3 to get my CSR (had an au putting me over 5/24), did 2 in the morning, waited 8 hours for a new shift and tried again and found success!

That said you could wait for the letter to get a little more guidance so you know what to be prepared for. If it says they want more info go in ready to answer q’s about your “biz” because, I’m repeating myself I know, you really have nothing to lose

 

[Artygal90]

Hmm, call back and have no fear you’re already denied so you can’t get double denied. Some reps just spout the company line because either they don’t know how to do anything else or they don’t want to do anything else. HUCA (Hang Up Call Again) is key with Chase. Took me 3 to get my CSR (had an au putting me over 5/24), did 2 in the morning, waited 8 hours for a new shift and tried again and found success!

That said you could wait for the letter to get a little more guidance so you know what to be prepared for. If it says they want more info go in ready to answer q’s about your “biz” because, I’m repeating myself I know, you really have nothing to lose

Thank you for reassuring me! I'm just so worried I messed something up on the application and there's some technical reason I can't get the CIP - like, the mailer I used was no good or something. I feel so cranky about it...but you're right, they can't deny me again! And since it's a business, not a "business" (albeit a veryveryvery small one) I've already got a bit of a spiel worked up.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Thank you for reassuring me! I'm just so worried I messed something up on the application and there's some technical reason I can't get the CIP - like, the mailer I used was no good or something. I feel so cranky about it...but you're right, they can't deny me again! And since it's a business, not a "business" (albeit a veryveryvery small one) I've already got a bit of a spiel worked up.

Well... they can confirm your denial but fingers crossed your spiel sells them!!

 

[calypso726]

Looking to plan China trip in 2-3 years. AA is our primary airline though I could fly any of the major airlines as we fly from ORD. With news that AA is dumping their ORD-PEK flight and may be getting rid of other Asian flights, stockpiling AA miles seems pointless.
Should I focus on UA or something else? (Right now, we have AA and SW miles only)

We collect AA miles but don’t use them very often to fly AA. We use them to fly partner airlines. If you have AA miles look into flying JAL out of ORD. You have to search award availability on BA. I wouldn’t worry about AA dumping their Asia flights. You’re better off using their miles to fly on a nicer plane with better service. We are going to Japan next year and likely every few years after that since I loved the Disney parks there. We will use AA miles to get there but have no intention of flying AA metal.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Hey everybody. Sorry I've been so quiet lately. We are about to do 2 vacations in 4 weeks (Myrtle Beach next week and Captiva Island in Florida in mid-July). So I had been trying to get all caught up at work.

THEN yesterday we were hit with the hardest rain I've seen in my life. Our finished basement (which in a decade had seen a little water one time) got completely flooded. Luckily we don't have anything valuable on the ground but needless to say it's sucked up all my energy for a couple of days and we leave tomorrow. I hope everybody is doing well here, and I promise you'll hear more of me soon (just maybe not a ton for the next month or so).

 

[palhockeymomof2]

Hey everybody. Sorry I've been so quiet lately. We are about to do 2 vacations in 4 weeks (Myrtle Beach next week and Captiva Island in Florida in mid-July). So I had been trying to get all caught up at work.

THEN yesterday we were hit with the hardest rain I've seen in my life. Our finished basement (which in a decade had seen a little water one time) got completely flooded. Luckily we don't have anything valuable on the ground but needless to say it's sucked up all my energy for a couple of days and we leave tomorrow. I hope everybody is doing well here, and I promise you'll hear more of me soon (just maybe not a ton for the next month or so).

Yaa on the two vacations....you need them after the flooded basement....Enjoy !!

 

[amalone1013]

Hey everybody. Sorry I've been so quiet lately. We are about to do 2 vacations in 4 weeks (Myrtle Beach next week and Captiva Island in Florida in mid-July). So I had been trying to get all caught up at work.

THEN yesterday we were hit with the hardest rain I've seen in my life. Our finished basement (which in a decade had seen a little water one time) got completely flooded. Luckily we don't have anything valuable on the ground but needless to say it's sucked up all my energy for a couple of days and we leave tomorrow. I hope everybody is doing well here, and I promise you'll hear more of me soon (just maybe not a ton for the next month or so).

Oh no! I'm so sorry!

 

[1st*toright]

Originally, we had plans to fly Iceland but when we started to look for hotels and food, they were super expensive. My dad was told to look at WoW Air. After awhile, i was telling my dad that we can fly to alaska instead to see the same thing. No need to fly 10 hours, we flew like 5 hours instead.

We flew into Fairbanks, stayed at a Hamptons Inn. drove around for a few days... then we took a 12 hour train ride from Fairbanks --> Anchorage. played around in anchorage and flew home.

we went in Feb. We met some local ppl on the train, said the best time to go is during thanksgiving.

Depends on where you are. To Iceland from BWI, its a 6 hour nonstop flight. From the east coast it takes forever to get to Anchorage! Given that flights are relatively easy, I'm sitting here wondering why I haven't been to Iceland yet . . .

Iceland is amazing - we did a quick stopover on our way to Europe a few years ago, and it is high on the list of places to go back to. Its just so expensive once you are there (and not that easy to manage on points - not a lot of chain hotels if you're trying to drive the circumference of the island). Alaska sounds amazing, but I'm on the east coast too and getting there would take forever.

This is why we go to Disney - its a short flight for us and with some creativity, not that expensive to stay and play!

 

[1st*toright]

Hey everybody. Sorry I've been so quiet lately. We are about to do 2 vacations in 4 weeks (Myrtle Beach next week and Captiva Island in Florida in mid-July). So I had been trying to get all caught up at work.

THEN yesterday we were hit with the hardest rain I've seen in my life. Our finished basement (which in a decade had seen a little water one time) got completely flooded. Luckily we don't have anything valuable on the ground but needless to say it's sucked up all my energy for a couple of days and we leave tomorrow. I hope everybody is doing well here, and I promise you'll hear more of me soon (just maybe not a ton for the next month or so).

Oh no!!! What a huge pain. Glad everyone is ok, and enjoy your trip(s)!

 

[1st*toright]

Ok, for all you Starriott status chasers, I've got another avenue to get some elite nights heading into the program change. If you book a meeting at a Marriott, you can get 10 elite night credits for each meeting. I've been working on this one for a little while, and wanted to actually get it to work before I shared with the class.

I held a meeting for work at a Marriott and gave them my rewards number. Per the website, any qualifying meeting would earn 10 nights. At first, the nights didn't post, so I thought maybe my event was too small to qualify, or you need to have a room block (everyone was a local for my meeting). I asked the hotel where I'd hosted the meeting, and they told me that they don't participate in the program. I called Marriott central booking, and the person referred me to the rewards program. I found out from the rewards program rep that all Marriotts (except Residence Inn and maybe one other brand) do participate in the program and a room block is not required. I also checked back with Marriott central booking, and the rep I spoke to had checked into it and verified that any meeting should qualify. I (very politely) pushed back on the hotel where I'd held the meeting, and they apologized and said that they hadn't known about the program, but they had credited me the nights. The nights showed up the next day.

Depending on how many nights you need to get to the next status level (and how much you value that status) you should be able to book an event and get 10 nights - might be cheaper than mattress runs if you're a ways away from getting to the next level. Based on my experience, this may be a little bit YMMV - if I did it again, I'd want to be sure to discuss it ahead of time and make sure that they know how to credit the nights (and are willing to do so). The rewards rep was adamant that there was nothing she could do to get the nights credited to me, I had to get the hotel where the meeting was held to post the nights. It really looked like it wasn't going to pan out at one point.

Not sure if this will carry to the new program or not - from what I can see, it doesn't look like SPG offers night credit without having a room block too.

Anyone want to have a Dischurners meet up in New England? I'll book a conference room

 

[Lain]

Ok, for all you Starriott status chasers, I've got another avenue to get some elite nights heading into the program change. If you book a meetings at a Marriott, you can get 10 elite night credits for each meeting. I've been working on this one for a little while, and wanted to actually get it to work before I shared with the class.

I held a meeting for work at a Marriott and gave them my rewards number. Per the website, any qualifying meeting would earn 10 nights. At first, the nights didn't post, so I thought maybe my event was too small to qualify, or you need to have a room block (everyone was a local for my meeting). I asked the hotel where I'd hosted the meeting, and they told me that they don't participate in the program. I called Marriott central booking, and the person referred me to the rewards program. I found out from the rewards program rep that all Marriotts (except Residence Inn and maybe one other brand) do participate in the program and a room block is not required. I also checked back with Marriott central booking, and the rep I spoke to had checked into it and verified that any meeting should qualify. I (very politely) pushed back on the hotel where I'd held the meeting, and they apologized and said that they hadn't known about the program, but they had credited me the nights. The nights showed up the next day.

Depending on how many nights you need to get to the next status level (and how much you value that status) you should be able to book an event and get 10 nights - might be cheaper than mattress runs if you're a ways away from getting to the next level. Based on my experience, this may be a little bit YMMV - if I did it again, I'd want to be sure to discuss it ahead of time and make sure that they know how to credit the nights (and are willing to do so). The rewards rep was adamant that there was nothing she could do to get the nights credited to me, I had to get the hotel where the meeting was held to post the nights. It really looked like it wasn't going to pan out at one point.

Not sure if this will carry to the new program or not - from what I can see, it doesn't look like SPG offers night credit without having a room block too.

Anyone want to have a Dischurners meet up in New England? I'll book a conference room

Oh my god, @Albort can give his Churning 101 seminar!

 

[MrPTato]

Anyone want to have a Dischurners meet up in New England? I'll book a conference room

Were we looking at?

 

[Judique]

@Judique Do you use any of their (NFCU) credit products?

I'll answer both posts in this one post. My mortgage is old and almost paid off. I owe them just a smidgeon of money which I keep paying although I could knock it out - I'm 65. I've had car loans, a home equity loan and a mastercard and a visa - both of which are about 25 years old. I have various savings products with them, so I've got a long history since early 80ties.

Now, the 1/4 per cent: every so often NFCU sends a letter with an offer of 1/4% off if you get a mortgage, buy a car, etc. The letter is good (forever?) until you use it. But, my son gets these as well as my daughters. When my son bought his first new car when he was 21 (he had a beater before that) I had a $500 check offer and the 1/4 per cent. We used the $500 check at the dealer and the 1/4 % offer the next month when we refied the dealer's financing - I did the math and of course put that check out there after we had the best deal.

If you haven't already gotten one of these 1/4% offers, you will eventually get it. I can't say what time frame because I don't remember, but they still come. On a 300K loan over 30 years, its about $42 - that's quite a bit more than what's left by the CIP through Plastique.

The offer looks like junk mail, so I imagine a lot of people toss it.

 

[Lain]

I haven't had much time in the past week to follow and post in this thread too. So here's my poor attempt to catch up.

@SouthFayetteFan: I'm so sorry to read about the flooding. I hope your upcoming trips help you take your mind off. Because isn't why we churn so that we can enjoy awesome vacations and the memories they make with our families?

@MrPTato: Love the avatar change! Is that your DD? The look on her face!

@Artygal90: I'm sorry to read about the bad news. On business apps, I'd usually suggest don't calling in and only checking the automated status line. But there's no telling if that would've led to approval or the same denial. @gottalovepluto has already given you a lot of great advice and comfort, but denials happen and you don't really know why until you get the letter. Even then, Chase might list vague, boilerplate reasons for the denial. But do wait for the letter before calling in again, so then you'll be on better footing to argue for reconsideration.

@SBWB48: Wishing you a great weekend here in San Francisco, and a wonderful trip out west in California!

 

[peel]

DH applied for the CIP last night and got the 30 day notice. I called the status line 15 minutes later and it said 2 weeks. I went to bed happy and was all set to have a dance party here, but when I called this morning it had changed to 7-10.

 

[palhockeymomof2]

DH applied for the CIP last night and got the 30 day notice. I called the status line 15 minutes later and it said 2 weeks. I went to bed happy and was all set to have a dance party here, but when I called this morning it had changed to 7-10.

Wish there was a dislike button...that stinks...but maybe they just want to verify ID

 

[miztressuz]

@Artygal90: I'm sorry to read about the bad news. On business apps, I'd usually suggest don't calling in and only checking the automated status line...

I think the issue here is people are calling into the automated line and getting sent to a human, and not the automated status. I recall a few people on the thread mentioning that, expecting a recorded status and a human picked up. I think everyone else hung up, though, out of shock

Not sure if it's a change to how they're working the status line, a glitch in the automated part, or maybe accidentally hitting a different prompt? (1-800-432-3117, #, 3, 1, SSN) But it doesn't seem 100% safe at avoiding human contact for the moment.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Hey everybody. Sorry I've been so quiet lately. We are about to do 2 vacations in 4 weeks (Myrtle Beach next week and Captiva Island in Florida in mid-July). So I had been trying to get all caught up at work.

THEN yesterday we were hit with the hardest rain I've seen in my life. Our finished basement (which in a decade had seen a little water one time) got completely flooded. Luckily we don't have anything valuable on the ground but needless to say it's sucked up all my energy for a couple of days and we leave tomorrow. I hope everybody is doing well here, and I promise you'll hear more of me soon (just maybe not a ton for the next month or so).

I’m so sorry about your house. Our last house flooded twice in 3 years (we lived there 18 years) and the second time we lost everything including furnace and water heater. I hope you hired a cleaning company to do most of the work so you don’t stress too much.