About to make a $4,400 purchase, should I open a rewards card acct?

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Actually, the CSR could be used as a one and done deal. You get 100,000 points if you open it in branch and they will meet their spend for the card just by paying off the vacation. That would get them around a total of 113,200 points. If they don't have other travel plans before the first year is done, then they could redeem those points for gift cards totaling $1132. Or they could transfer them to an airline miles program, like SW. This is around the same if not more points than they would get if they got 2 SW cards, but with the benefit of just a single credit hit.

Also, they will get the $300 travel credit now and they could get another $300 travel credit in December before cancelling or downgrading their card. A good way to get this, if they don't have any other plans, would be to put $300 into a Disney Vacation Account and then request a gift card or use it to pay for a future trip. That makes the total value of this deal around $1282+, depending on how they choose to redeem the points.

I agree CSR gets her 100K in points to fly with whatever airline she wants or book hotels room. She can also walk away with nearly $1k in her pocket if she decided to just cash the 113K in points she will earn if she get the card, for cash. A card offering $1k in cash rewards for spending the amount she needs to spend in one transaction is very wise. Why anyone would say that card is not a good deal is nuts. Plus all the perks the card has ie: Free TSA application, free visits to the airport lounges for everyone in your traveling party- come on free drinks and snacks for a family of 5 can be great money saver, free price protection if an item goes on sale you can get a price adjustment up to 90 days from the purchase date.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

wow. Lots of advice here that is probably not pertinent to OP. Sounds to me (I may be wrong) that OP is looking for a one time bonus to maximize their large vacation purchase. A alot of the cc's mentioned here are inappropriate for that scenario why? OP wants to get the bonus to help on a vacay that will be paid with a tax refund, it sounds like an ongoing use of whatever cc they pick isn't going to be important.
Cards with annual fees, (and high rewards) are fairly serious business,and take a lot of self control to handle well.And don't work well unless you are in a position to know that paying in full each month without going broke is worth the bonuses. If OP is in a position to do that, well then maybe- but only they really know. (A CSR Is a really bad choice for a one and done kind of deal)
A no fee disney card (or two), yes. a no fee chase freedom? sounds good. A SWA card, if you plane to do the above, plus have travel plans for the near future you could that on? maybe.....(see above note) and OP the 5% back is usually rotating categories, which can be great!

CSR is a GREAT choice she will have a total of 113K in points to fly her family on whatever airline she wants or book hotel rooms using the points or she can redeem the 113K points for cash and get back nearly $1k. Yes there are those of you who require self control in order to pay off a $4k credit card balance. She has a plan to use her tax money to pay off the card so she has nothing to worry about other than how she plans to spend her 113K in points. Not to mention just for charging the $4k for a Disney vacation she will get a $300 credit on her card for making a travel purchase.

 

[SoundofMusic]

Apply for the Southwest Premier and Plus cards and shoot for the companion pass. The companion pass enables you to add a companion for free on any flight you're on during the months it's valid. You can also change companions up to three times in a year. If you apply through the 50000 bonus points referral links, you will get 100k for both cards if you spend 2000 on each card within the first three months. Which leaves 6000 additional points which you can get by charging everything on the cards. After you get the cards, you can also get 5000 bonus points for any person you refer, who applies through your referral link and is approved up to a maximum of 50000 points per year. Some purchases through the Southwest rapid rewards portal are worth double, tripple or more points. The Companion pass is one of the best perks out there and totally worth it. When you get the companion pass, it is good for the current year and the next year. However, you must get all 110k points in the same calendar year. So if you get the cards right now, and get your 110k by March, your companion pass will be good for a total of 20 or 21 months. Keep in mind that you only have 3 months to spend the $2,000. I have sent you the referral links for the 50K bonus points should you decide to apply. Thanks and good luck.

 

[awfpack]

Can someone please explain to be about getting 2 SW cards? I was looking at getting 1 SW card and adding my wife to it? Would we be better off getting two separate ones? Please help
Thanks

 

[SoundofMusic]

Can someone please explain to be about getting 2 SW cards? I was looking at getting 1 SW card and adding my wife to it? Would we be better off getting two separate ones? Please help
Thanks

If you're aiming for the companion pass, you're better off applying for two cards in your name. If each of you apply for one card, you cannot combine the points to get to 110,000. However, to get the 50K bonus for each card, you must spend 2K minimum on each card within 3 months of opening the card. Some couples apply for two cards each - 2 for wife, 2 for husband. (We didn't do this as that will be too much required spending within 3 months for our family). That way, you'll each aim to accrue the 110K for CP and have one person each travel as a companion. So for a family of 5, two people will ride as companions. Keep in mind that you will still have the 110K points to spend.

 

[awfpack]

If you're aiming for the companion pass, you're better off applying for two cards in your name. If each of you apply for one card, you cannot combine the points to get to 110,000. However, to get the 50K bonus for each card, you must spend 2K minimum on each card within 3 months of opening the card. Some couples apply for two cards each - 2 for wife, 2 for husband. (We didn't do this as that will be too much required spending within 3 months for our family). That way, you'll each aim to accrue the 110K for CP and have one person each travel as a companion. So for a family of 5, two people will ride as companions. Keep in mind that you will still have the 110K points to spend.

We are a family a 4 (two kids 9,5). We come to disney maybe 2 times in a year. Do I apply for the same SW card? Sorry for all the questions. We have a trip planed for June and have not paid if off yet. Thanks for your help

 

[mel2014]

If you're a Costco member, I love my Costco Anywhere Visa, which includes 3% cash back on all restaurant and travel purchases (which is dependent on the merchant coding but should include your trip balance), 4% on gas, 2% for Costco purchases, 1% cashback everywhere else. There is no annual fee (the Costco membership fee is effectively the annual fee). I looked at the Southwest card, but in our case Southwest is often not the best option for travel and I decided to give preference to good old cash rewards.

 

[SoundofMusic]

We are a family a 4 (two kids 9,5). We come to disney maybe 2 times in a year. Do I apply for the same SW card? Sorry for all the questions. We have a trip planed for June and have not paid if off yet. Thanks for your help

The fastest way to get to CP status would be to apply for the personal and the plus card. They each come with 50K bonus if you apply thru the 50K referral links and spend a minimum of 2k within three months. You can PM for the links. They each come with annual fees but I think the benefit of the CP outweigh the fees unless you don't fly Southwest. The 100k bonus points plus the 2k each minimum spend will put you at about 104K points. You will then need to accrue another 6K points through purchases and referrals. Southwest air purchases earn you double flights so example your $1K flight purchase will earn you 2000 points.

 

[platamama]

My first pick would be the Chase Sapphire Reserve with the 100,000 sign up bonus (still in Chase branches until March 11). That's worth $1000 cash once you've spent $4000. There's other ways to squeeze more out of the 100,000 points (if transferred to Southwest, that's $1388 worth of airfare), if you're willing to put a little effort into it.

The Costco Anywhere Visa makes a lot of sense too if you belong to Costco, that's a very simple card, though it's an annual cash back check that comes once a year in February.

 

[hsmamato2]

there's a whole other very detailed thread about the cards,and how to get to the bonuses right here on the budget board-seriously just go take a look.... lots of info if you're interested....

 

[Moocabn2258]

If you have a CHase bank near you I would apply for the CHase Reserve card, sorry you just missed the online sign up offer for the 100 points but you can still sign up in a branch till March 11. If you spend $4k you get 100,000 rewards points you can use for airline tickets, hotels and rental cars. There is a fee of $450 BUT if you spend $300 on travel expenses you get $300 back. So you will actually pay $150 for the fee and get all those miles to travel free with. By using it to pay off you Disney trip you will get $300 credited back to you. I paid our DVC dues and got the $300 credit right away. You and your family can take advantage of the airport lounges that offer free soda and alcoholic drinks, and appetizers while you wait for your flight.

*** also wanted to mention you don't have to use the 100,000 rewards point for travel only. You can use it for gift cards too.

*** and you get 3x the Rewards points for travel and for dinning purchases so the $4,400 you plan to spend X 3 =13,200 points you will earn for paying for the vacation. Which is enough for a r/t ticket on SWA which is a cash equivalent of a $225 ticket. So in reality you would not be paying any annual fee for the first year.

** another perk is that if you purchase and item using this CC and the item goes on sale within 90 days of purchase they will refund the difference to you. An item we bought 5 weeks later was on sale for $100 cheaper. I contacted them and the gave me the $100 credit.
** If you decided to cash in the 100K for gift cards it is equivalent to $1000. Or you can have the point deposited as cash to a Chase bank acct and it would be $1000 for the 100K reward points. Plus the 13,200 points that you earn from charging the Disney vacation you could end up depositing $870.00 after you pay the $450 fee. That is like get almost 25% off of you Disney vacation.

* you also get a $100 credit if you apply for a TSA precheck account. It would be nice to speed through those long security lines at the airport for free.

Do you know if the 3x rewards also include Disney park ticket purchases? Or is it only on hotel/flights? We're thinking about buying discount park tickets through one of the discount sites, but want to make sure I know what as "travel". We've also considered purchasing DVC points for our vacation, but again, I wasn't sure if we'd be able to qualify that as travel purchases since we're going through a third party.

 

[funcinderella]

Get 2 50,000 reward points Southwest cards in your name. A Premier and a Plus. If you hit 110,000 points in one year, you can get a Companion Pass. You could then use the card for monthly purchases and pay off at the end of each month. I made the mistake of getting a card in my name and 1 in DHs name and we missed out in the Companion Pass.

did this last year. it was surprisingly easy. I have been using my companion pass like crazy! and since i got so many points for free, we are essentially BOTH flying free for almost 2 years.