I love credit cards so much!

[Albort]

I see, so Global Entry is for customs. So based on what Albort is saying if my DH and I have Global entry, my kids can go with us through the TSA lines at the airport. Yes/no? But not through customs without their own approval. TY!

its a high chance you all will get pre-check.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Are you staying at a DLR hotel? If you charge everything to the room it will code as travel.

No we got a super cheap hotel with points. So rooms code as travel but tickets code differently?

 

[calypso726]

I have a few questions about AmEx rewards accounts. I have both a Premier Rewards Gold Card and the Business Platinum Card. In the next 3 weeks or so, I am planning to get rid of the Gold Card - I think. I can't see any reason to keep the Gold card at an annual fee of $195. I opened the card in Jan. 2016, so the annual fee should post soon - will it be okay to call AmEx once the annual fee appears and then cancel, or switch to another (no-fee) card - is that possible? One final question: I have the same membership rewards number for the Gold and the Platinum cards - does that mean I don't need to transfer any points before closing the Gold card, so long as I keep the Platinum?

As long as the card earns the type of MR that can be transferred to airlines, like the PRG then all you need to do is a keep an MR earning card open. If the platinum business card you have is different than the $450 AF one it may or may not earn MR that can be transferred to airlines, so I'd check that out first. When I went to cancel an Amex Plat card, I still had MR points that I didn't want to lose but didn't want to pay the $450 fee on it. So, I opened up an Amex Everyday no fee card and then closed my Amex Platinum. The MR points earned from the Everyday card can be transferred to airlines. My points stayed intact. DH has an Amex Plat personal and Amex Plat biz card. No need to keep 2 card with $450 AF each so he wil be closing the personal one. We're keeping the Amex Plat business card despite the $450 AF since the benefits work for us.

 

[calypso726]

No we got a super cheap hotel with points. So rooms code as travel but tickets code differently?

This is what I've heard. We have APs since we live in Florida. We use the DVA to buy our tix since I can load Disney gift cards to the DVA and get a $20 Disney gift card for every $1000 we spend out of it. I can also fund the DVA with a credit card and it will code as travel too. While at WDW we use the CSR for hotel charges and then charge everything to the room That way, no matter what we do it will code as travel.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

DVA?

Tix from undercover tourist & LMTclub both came thru as travel.
I would have to wait to book WOC until arrival if we charge to room, couldn't it sell out?

 

[AmyAnne]

As long as the card earns the type of MR that can be transferred to airlines, like the PRG then all you need to do is a keep an MR earning card open. If the platinum business card you have is different than the $450 AF one it may or may not earn MR that can be transferred to airlines, so I'd check that out first. When I went to cancel an Amex Plat card, I still had MR points that I didn't want to lose but didn't want to pay the $450 fee on it. So, I opened up an Amex Everyday no fee card and then closed my Amex Platinum. The MR points earned from the Everyday card can be transferred to airlines. My points stayed intact. DH has an Amex Plat personal and Amex Plat biz card. No need to keep 2 card with $450 AF each so he wil be closing the personal one. We're keeping the Amex Plat business card despite the $450 AF since the benefits work for us.

Thanks -- it is the Business Platinum with the $450 annual fee. Not sure if I will be keeping it long-term but I just opened it in Nov. 2016 so definitely keeping it until Nov. 2017.

And I guess there would be no benefit to calling AmEx and asking them to switch the Gold Premier to a different card, as opposed to just opening the card and getting the sign-up bonus (unlike with Chase where it makes sense to switch because of 5/24 - am I correct about this?). I'm not sure if there are any other AmEx cards that I want now; I'll have to look into that.

 

[calypso726]

DVA?

Tix from undercover tourist & LMTclub both came thru as travel.
I would have to wait to book WOC until arrival if we charge to room, couldn't it sell out?

DVA = Disney Vacation account. It is a savings account run by Disney that can be loaded with gift cards or funded with a credit card. After 120 days, every $1,000 that is used to pay for a Disney vacation you get back a $20 Disney gift card. So it's like getting 2% back in Disney gift cards. Yes, I imagine it could. I'd chance it and then if it didn't, plead your case via secure message. I've had stuff I thought should code as dining or travel not code, messaged Chase and explained and they usually honor it.

Thanks -- it is the Business Platinum with the $450 annual fee. Not sure if I will be keeping it long-term but I just opened it in Nov. 2016 so definitely keeping it until Nov. 2017.

And I guess there would be no benefit to calling AmEx and asking them to switch the Gold Premier to a different card, as opposed to just opening the card and getting the sign-up bonus (unlike with Chase where it makes sense to switch because of 5/24 - am I correct about this?). I'm not sure if there are any other AmEx cards that I want now; I'll have to look into that.

Between the 50% points back for pay with points on business or first tickets, gold status with Starwood and Hilton (and Marriott by default of SPG), Centurion lounge and Delta lounge access, Fine Resort and Hotels benefits and my new favorite - concierge scoring me tix to Hamilton, it's a keeper card for us.

Yeah, I'd pick up a new sign up bonus since it's once per lifetime anyhow.

 

[mhartman09]

So I've been reading and reading until my eyes started to cross over on the reddit churning thread to figure out my first step in all this. I think my best bet at this point would be to apply for the 2 personal Chase SW cards to shoot for the CP. Going to try this tomorrow using referral links from the reddit thread. Hoping it works smoothly and I can be well on my way to getting that CP.

Planning to use the cards to buy some concert tickets we were buying anyway (about $500) and buy Carnival gift cards to pay off my cruise (about $1000). Still need to think about other ways to reach the extra spend to get there.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

DVA = Disney Vacation account. It is a savings account run by Disney that can be loaded with gift cards or funded with a credit card. After 120 days, every $1,000 that is used to pay for a Disney vacation you get back a $20 Disney gift card. So it's like getting 2% back in Disney gift cards. Yes, I imagine it could. I'd chance it and then if it didn't, plead your case via secure message. I've had stuff I thought should code as dining or travel not code, messaged Chase and explained and they usually honor it.
.

Interesting. Didn't know Chase would honor it. I was told the category decisions were made by an outside authority & not Chase so I was under the impression there was no recourse. I'll probably give it a try. Thanks

 

[calypso726]

Interesting. Didn't know Chase would honor it. I was told the category decisions were made by an outside authority & not Chase so I was under the impression there was no recourse. I'll probably give it a try. Thanks

It isn't a guarantee that they will and definitely a YMMV. That said, I've done it a couple of times over the year, especially if it is a significant amount and they've honored it. A few years ago when I was using cash back cards I had the same situation happen with Discover and they also honored it bonus points.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

So I've been reading and reading until my eyes started to cross over on the reddit churning thread to figure out my first step in all this. I think my best bet at this point would be to apply for the 2 personal Chase SW cards to shoot for the CP. Going to try this tomorrow using referral links from the reddit thread. Hoping it works smoothly and I can be well on my way to getting that CP.

Planning to use the cards to buy some concert tickets we were buying anyway (about $500) and buy Carnival gift cards to pay off my cruise (about $1000). Still need to think about other ways to reach the extra spend to get there.

Whenever I need to meet spend requirements, I switch all bills I can to that card. Cell, cable, electric, any that allow it. I've also paid insurance, car or homeowners, which was a big chunk.

 

[Albort]

Arg...

Just applied for the Southwest Premier and got approved through the public 40k signup bonus. I knew I should have done a little more research into the card because I just saw the 50k links on reddit!

This is my 2nd CC, and my history is a bit low so I think I'm going to wait a couple months until I apply for the plus.

URGENT! looks like they are closing the loophole where transferring to hotel chains then to SW will no longer count towards CP.
u got 3 months to get as much in as possible!

http://thepointsguy.com/2017/01/southwest-companion-pass-transfer-eligibility-march-2017/

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

Interesting. Didn't know Chase would honor it. I was told the category decisions were made by an outside authority & not Chase so I was under the impression there was no recourse. I'll probably give it a try. Thanks

I have not had luck contesting categories when they didn't code as dining or travel.

 

[calypso726]

Just put our CSR bonus points to use and I've booked flights through the Chase portal for the first time! I usually transfer my UR points to United or BA and tend to get greater value for my points, but not this time. I was hoping to use Delta miles aka Skypesos to fly to Iceland for Thanksgiving next year. I couldn't convince DH to fly on WOW air for 8 hours even at $99 each way, although they'd likely charge you for breathing, blinking and everything else under the sun. The seats are typical economy seats and there are zero amenities. DH has turned into a spoiled when it comes to flights over 3 hours. I'll suck it up if the price is right. Neither us felt it was worth spending the number of miles it would cost to fly Iceland air in what amounts to a domestic first class style seat (reclines) for 8 hours.

Delta had the best flights available with regards to travel time and seats (lie flat). However, they wanted 350,000 Skypesos per person to fly on an award ticket I checked for flights out of the three closest airports and it was all about the same. I wouldn't blow 700k Skypesos on the flights even if I had them. I don't collect Delta often, but I will save what I have for a decent redemption sometime don the line. Their saving grace is that they don't expire. The average price was $2900 per ticket which we weren't going to pay out of pocket. I checked the UR site and that would cost an average of 193,404. Interestingly enough, I had found a flight on Delta that was $2,064 but the UR site still showed it at $2900. I kept searching and then did find a flight at $2800 which reflected a cost of 187,137 UR points per person. I chose that one since it would save us over 12,500 UR points and was as convenient as other flights available.

Now, I've got to decide if we are staying at a Radisson Blu, Hilton or trying for an Air BNB. So looking forward to Northern Lights, Ice Caves and Glacier hiking!

 

[peel]

URGENT! looks like they are closing the loophole where transferring to hotel chains then to SW will no longer count towards CP.
u got 3 months to get as much in as possible!

http://thepointsguy.com/2017/01/southwest-companion-pass-transfer-eligibility-march-2017/

It had actually been shut down on 1/1, but they changed their minds. It was really decent of them to revise their "effective immediately" statement to give people a 3 month window. They didn't have to.

 

[Ngwira]

I have a CSR question...

I paid the deposit with a DVC rental company with my CSR, and it coded as travel, so I got part of my $300 credit applied to it, even though I didn't expect it and didn't count it as applying to that for budgeting purposes. I just got an email that my dates are sold out. I haven't looked into the other options they sent yet, but in case they don't work and I would get that deposit refunded, would I lose that part of my travel credit? I don't see anything about the travel credit in my card paperwork.

ETA: maybe I should add that this is for my 2016 credit...

There are several data points which say that chase does not claw back the travel credit if it's refunded.

 

[Ngwira]

Are you staying at a DLR hotel? If you charge everything to the room it will code as travel.

does this also apply at WDW?

 

[mhartman09]

I think I might reconsider my original decision to get the two Chase SW cards to try for the companion pass. Currently, my family only has 1 trip where we will be needing a flight in the coming months. With a cruise also scheduled during the summer, I'm not certain we'd get the best use of the CP this year. I'm thinking it might be a better option for me to go for the CSR instead. Then I can use those UR points for the one flight we're looking at and worry about the CP as a possible goal for next year. I'm already at 4/24 with Discover It dropping off in 5 months. What do you guys think?

 

[WVMomof3]

So I thought I was ready to pull the trigger on the 2 SW cards, but I am a stay at home mom. I had read that you can include household income, but it asks for Source of Income and Employer. Any idea what to put? Also wondering if I should just do the CSR instead. We currently have no trips planned, but hopeful to make plans if I could get the companion pass. My husband currently has the CSR.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

I think I might reconsider my original decision to get the two Chase SW cards to try for the companion pass. Currently, my family only has 1 trip where we will be needing a flight in the coming months. With a cruise also scheduled during the summer, I'm not certain we'd get the best use of the CP this year. I'm thinking it might be a better option for me to go for the CSR instead. Then I can use those UR points for the one flight we're looking at and worry about the CP as a possible goal for next year. I'm already at 4/24 with Discover It dropping off in 5 months. What do you guys think?

I think that makes sense. I was tempted to do the SPG to CP offer, but we just wouldn't use it enough in the next 2 years to make it worth it. The SPG points are more valuable to me than an unused CP.

And the CSR card really is a great card. I just charged $1375 of work-related travel expenses this morning. That translates into almost $62 in travel credit. This is the best rewards card that I have ever had for sure.