I love credit cards so much! v6.0 - 2023 (see first page for add'l details)

[Ngwira]

Good idea, thanks.

We are at the Hilton Paris Opera and they sent us a lengthy list of tours and excursions that we could book with trusted guides. Eiffel Tower summit tours were amongst them. We lucked out and grabbed some on our own, though. But I saw Moulin Rouge, the Louvre, Versailles and even Normandy and wine country tours.

 

[mmmears]

We are at the Hilton Paris Opera and they sent us a lengthy list of tours and excursions that we could book with trusted guides. Eiffel Tower summit tours were amongst them. We lucked out and grabbed some on our own, though. But I saw Moulin Rouge, the Louvre, Versailles and even Normandy and wine country tours.

That's really nice. We are booked at the PHPV and their e-concierge is not working and they said that it's not a current list of what they offer. It's been a week (or actually I think it's been two weeks) and we have heard nothing from them. I started booking tours with other vendors at this point. I have to say that I expected more from this hotel.

 

[MarBee]

Just remembered that the CSR 1.25 grocery Pay Yourself Back is only confirmed through 3/31. We don't know yet if they will extend it. If you haven't applied for the CSR yet and that's your main reason for doing so, maybe you want to hold off until April 1. That or do the PYB really quickly!

Thank you! I was literally going to apply tomorrow but will def hold off
That was incredibly thoughtful to think of me for this. I hope the karma comes back to you tenfold!

 

[Zhoen]

I’m too lazy to do the math, but Staples has been running the no-fee deal about every other week (literally). So just wait for the next sale to come around!

I 2nd this. Staples fee free sales happen almost weekly. Don’t pay the fees. Just wait a couple of weeks for the next sale.

Ok, thanks! I will sit very still and be patient... I'm just freaking out a little about the $6k spend... the card took a while to arrive and only has a 3k limit, so I gotta spend/pay/spend pretty intentionally if I'm going to win this one...

 

[IFlossU]

I think I was not prepared for the sticker shock of Hawaii hotels (not that I've looked broadly... just a quick glance this morning).

Thanks!

Yeah, I would never pay cash for a resort/condo on Maui. I always take a glance at the prices, but have only ever used points for resorts/condos. I have to stockpile my points for several months, but it’s so worth it for the kind of travel we enjoy. A typical week long trip costs us roughly $1500 between car, food, etc. We’ve done some excursions previously that added to the cost, but now we just keep it simple. Costa Rica dining is definitely cheaper than Maui, but it was still not a cheap trip by any means.

Don’t take my word for it- but I believe that you can buy tickets at the gate as well. You just have to wait in the line for tickets. But google that first. If for some reason you can’t get either, the park across the way is amazing for pics. and also just being under the Eiffel Tower is amazing (no tickets required, but you will have to go through security).

When I was there in 2017 we walked up and purchased tickets at the booth. Tickets were sold out online ahead of time, but we decided to go at about 8:30 at night. We walked right up purchased tickets, and it didn’t seem overly crowded at all. I loved going up at night.

 

[have2getaway]

Are you a Disney regular? You could just bring 3 redemption cards with you and use three payment forms. Same if at Disney store. Just a thought…

Thank you. We were just at Epcot last month and I was planning to do this and then forgot the cards the day we went. I suppose this is still an option in a return trip in the future.

 

[calypso726]

@calypso726 or anyone else who has done the Celebrity Amex offer: how do you get Celebrity to take the exact amount you want to put down on each card for the cruise? We finally decided to go for it and book something in 2025, have 3 cards with the 30K offer. So I need them to take $1K on each. Ugh, do I need to call? We don't have a TA we work with (except for non-DVC Disney trips) so maybe it's time to get one?

I see that @mmmears gave you good advice. I went through my trusty TA, so I didn't know the answer.

No need to call. We booked yesterday. The cruise wanted a $500 deposit (and there didn't seem to be a way to put more on it at that point). After that was paid, DH went into our cruise and added payments from all the other cards that we had offers on. It was pretty easy, really. We ended up not using a TA so that we didn't have to go through one for all these payments. My friend's TA kept telling her she wouldn't get the deal on the second card, and didn't want to bother with making a payment from it, but she persisted and it credited. I didn't want to have to deal with that so we booked directly with Celebrity online.

Wow, can't believe you friend's TA would say that and not even try. Glad mine isn't like that. Last year when Amex had a Celebrity offer, we also had that on multiple cards but had the Galapagos cruise booked. My TA was able to apply the payments towards that cruise to get the discounts.

I also hope that choosing the more expensive refundable option doesn't lock us in to having to select that option when we rebook the actual cruise we take.

When I told my TA about the Amex Offer she knew that we were not planning to take whatever cruise was booked and would want to move it to a future cruise/itinerary that we will eventually keep. Besides being my TA, she is also one of my BFFs and travels with us a lot. She specifically said that we would need to book a refundable cruise and will likely book whatever cruise we do wind up changing to the actual cruise we take and come with us.

 

[BGparadise]

Ok, thanks! I will sit very still and be patient... I'm just freaking out a little about the $6k spend... the card took a while to arrive and only has a 3k limit, so I gotta spend/pay/spend pretty intentionally if I'm going to win this one...

Not sure if you are specifically looking for Visa, but Staples has fee free MC this week.

 

[softballpooh]

I received my first CIC yay! It has a much higher credit limit than I was expecting. Is there any reason I need to keep it at a certain level or can I go ahead and SM to have it lowered? Is there a minimum level for this card?

 

[Arcades]

I received my first CIC yay! It has a much higher credit limit than I was expecting. Is there any reason I need to keep it at a certain level or can I go ahead and SM to have it lowered? Is there a minimum level for this card?

Since Chase started allowing reallocation of credit to open new cards (similar to Amex), I would keep it. The only reason to reduce it in advance is for an auto approval if you don't like talking to recon on a denied app (due to too much credit already extended). You may get another business card in the future where you will want a higher CL and then you can shift it from the CIC.

 

[ten6mom]

We've been using points for our Hawaii hotel plans lately (2022, 2023, and 2024 I hope) because the hotel prices are just insane. Mostly Chase > Hyatt, some Hilton and Hilton FNCs. Oh, and the FHR credit, too, for a paid night.

I did think about transferring points... Chase seems to have a Marriot transfer bonus right now... but just looking at the cash prices I am sure the points would be crazy as well.

I don't NEED to go anywhere right now.. I am just trying not to lose these BA miles! Poor planning on my part.

 

[LynnTH]

It would need to be 90 days from your last biz plat.

Did you also try the plat and gold without a support? Sometimes you get the pop-up with a support but not without.

I did not. Might as well give it a try - nothing to lose and it is nice that it at least tells you so you don't have to finish the application process.

 

[wanderlust7]

I did think about transferring points... Chase seems to have a Marriot transfer bonus right now... but just looking at the cash prices I am sure the points would be crazy as well.

I don't NEED to go anywhere right now.. I am just trying not to lose these BA miles! Poor planning on my part.

Even with a Marriott transfer bonus, I would think transferring to Hyatt would cost you less URs.

There are lots of ways to extend your Avios. Link I would just transfer in 1000 URs or MRs (or whatever the minimum is).

 

[leeniewdw]

Ugh! Hate to hear that. I have yet to book my travel insurance for our June trip and think it's finally time I do. I keep going back and forth with what kind of coverage I want/need and this seals it for me to include all the travel delay stuff. We're positioning in BOS for 1 night (using pts) and I wouldn't want to have to pay for a hotel out of pocket for another if there's a delay. Did you get a hotel free as part of the cancellation?

Our trip is for 14 nights in Ireland, so while a day's delay would stink it's not a trip buster. We do have a Hawk Walk at Ashford Castle scheduled for our arrival day and that would stink to miss, cost aside.

No sooner did I write this...got an email from Jet Blue changing our flight for our return BOS-RDU (we're positioning in BOS). We originally had a 4 hour layover on the return, but now with the change it's like 2.5 hours. Hopefully no delays leaving Shannon Ireland. JB has changed our flight times about once every 2 weeks since I booked a few months ago but it's been on the RDU-BOS leg which is no big deal since we've got a night in BOS on that outbound leg.

 

[LynnTH]

I did that spend 3 years ago. We do have an actual business but still it was a stretch. Don’t forget you also earn double miles for the $50,000 spent so that’s 350,000 C1 miles you get! I closed that card a year ago after applying for the Venture x and transferring the miles to that card. I love using my points to pay off travel charges like Ubers. And I’m booking my tours thru the Cap1 site thru Viator because there’s a 12% savings.

It was nice having a stash of Cap One Points. Used most of mine for Universal and Disney tickets.

 

[leeniewdw]

Question for the experts re: Global Entry application.

We both applied in July 2022 and I got conditional approval very quickly. My DH still does not have conditional approval. I've come to think it may be because his (at the time) employer is a very small business that probably didn't reply to any request for employment verification. However, we both retired in November, so he's no longer employed by them. I presume they'd still need to do a verification even as his most recent employer.

We tried logging into this app to update it but it says:

Note: You cannot make changes to an application once it is submitted. If you find errors, please notify the officer at the enrollment center so the officer can make the necessary changes.

I find this confusing because we can't make an appointment until he's got conditional approval...which he doesn't have.

I suppose the answer is to have him call and ask if they received a request for verification LAST JULY, but the odds of that being located are basically zero (especially with this small family owned business) and I don't see a way to re-trigger anything at the GE site.

At this point it's probably impossible to get this resolved by our early June Ireland trip, but I guess we have to figure out the best way forward.

Any other ideas?

 

[elgerber]

I did stop at my first Buc-ees in Florence, SC today. It overwhelmed me. Crossed it off my bucket list.

I visited my first Buc-ees two weeks ago. Wow wow wow. I wish I would have been hungrier when we were there. I did get a few treats and a tiny stuffed Buc-cee on a keychain. He's staring at my right now, I love him.

 

[Princess Michele]

I've connected in LHR and CDG. Both took quite a bit of time to get from one flight to the other. When I have a choice between 2 hours and 5 I have chosen 5 (and even though I hate waiting at the airport I have not regretted it). If you are going from a Shengen country to CDG (Paris) you won't need to go through customs but it can still be a long walk even if you are on the same airline. If you are going through CDG from the US, you do have to go through customs and that can take a long time.

Last trip we were flying from Oslo home, connecting at CDG and the jetway broke, so it took extra long to get off the plane (which was already late). We had to race to catch our flight since we were nowhere near the 2nd leg. On the way in customs took forever even though there was pretty much no line in front of us. There were people carrying things (like the guy with 6 or more brand new iPhones in boxes) that they didn't like, so we had to wait for them to open everything, check everything, etc. It was not fun.

At LHR we had to travel by bus from one terminal to the other (time consuming and also not fun). Just make sure to give yourself a bit of a cushion in terms of those connections.



We've been using points for our Hawaii hotel plans lately (2022, 2023, and 2024 I hope) because the hotel prices are just insane. Mostly Chase > Hyatt, some Hilton and Hilton FNCs. Oh, and the FHR credit, too, for a paid night.

Thank you for sharing you experiences. It is crazy that when you search for flights there are so many with only 1 hour connection time. For someone without a lot of international travel experience it makes it hard to know what flights to avoid because they are unrealistic. I guess if we cannot get a non-stop flight then I will just make sure that we have a long layover.

 

[reliev]

so i looked to renew passport online doesnt seem to be an option best case is to do the automated form go get photos and send it in expeidted?

 

[sinnika]

Question for the experts re: Global Entry application.

We both applied in July 2022 and I got conditional approval very quickly. My DH still does not have conditional approval. I've come to think it may be because his (at the time) employer is a very small business that probably didn't reply to any request for employment verification. However, we both retired in November, so he's no longer employed by them. I presume they'd still need to do a verification even as his most recent employer.

We tried logging into this app to update it but it says:

Note: You cannot make changes to an application once it is submitted. If you find errors, please notify the officer at the enrollment center so the officer can make the necessary changes.

I find this confusing because we can't make an appointment until he's got conditional approval...which he doesn't have.

I suppose the answer is to have him call and ask if they received a request for verification LAST JULY, but the odds of that being located are basically zero (especially with this small family owned business) and I don't see a way to re-trigger anything at the GE site.

At this point it's probably impossible to get this resolved by our early June Ireland trip, but I guess we have to figure out the best way forward.

Any other ideas?

Can you make an appointment and get yours? Maybe when you go in person they can see why his application is being held up if you can’t reach anyone by phone. My husband is self employed and I work for him as the manager. We never got any inquiry regarding employment status when we applied together. We did our appointment on the way back from Germany to Houston on New Years Day. We went to a special line on arrival (not the global entry line).