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

[lsutigers03]

Saw on Frequent Miler that the Marriott Boundless (5) 50k certificate offer for $5k/3mos is back, which can often be a great deal. Here's the public offer. I believe you can top these off with 15k points. Note that these aren't as easy to use as straight points, so do some research before signing up. My support offer is only showing 3 certs, so the public offer is better.

TIP: When I've done this in the past, I've made the mistake of meeting the MSR too quickly. Because these are good from one year from distribution (mine we issued within a few days of hitting MSR), I wished I had slow walked the MSR so that I had a little more time with the certs.

ETA: We've previously used these at the Swan, Swan Reserve and/or Dolphin. Even the Swan Reserve looks like it tops out at 66k, so would fall within the 50k cert + top off.

I was looking at random dates for the Swan and Dolphin. In Feb 2024 I see 5 nights for a total of 241,000 points. Each night is above 50,000/night but there's a free night included. Would you need to add points to each night or would you be able to use the certificates since the 5 nights are below 250,000 points in total?

 

[lsutigers03]

My husband was approved for a CIU and the bonus tracker was showing. Today I logged in and it says “ We can’t show your bonus tracker” in red. Anyone ever have this happen? We hadn’t spent enough to make the bonus, but were on track to meet the SUB. I’m sort of panicking about it, but honestly not sure if I need to be since we hadn’t met the minimum spend to receive it anyway.

Mine says the same thing. Don't worry about it. Chase's app and website has glitches from time to time.

 

[havaneselover]

I was looking at random dates for the Swan and Dolphin. In Feb 2024 I see 5 nights for a total of 241,000 points. Each night is above 50,000/night but there's a free night included. Would you need to add points to each night or would you be able to use the certificates since the 5 nights are below 250,000 points in total?

I believe the former.

 

[have2getaway]

Mine says the same thing. Don't worry about it. Chase's app and website has glitches from time to time.

Thank you! This is very reassuring. I was hoping it was just a glitch.

 

[Ngwira]

Anyone have dining suggestions for Paris at places that are yummy, not too fancy, and have outdoor dining?

We dined at Frame restaurant which is a stones throw from the Eiffel Tower. Very yummy and decent prices.

 

[Princess Michele]

I’m currently seeing 130k MR Biz Gold from my support link. So I would be looking for that offer with different browsers, incognito, etc. The 90k personal Gold is a solid offer, and if it only puts you at 3/24 I personally would snap it up. Lower spend requirements and more useful card benefits in my opinion. Plus if you’re going to use it for mostly 4x groceries that’s still a nice haul of points for a slightly less AF than the Biz. And if you can get another Ink, that’s great!

Thanks for your thoughts. I looked at the other card benefits for the two cards and decided that the personal Gold would be my best choice currently. It will be better to wait and work on the biz cards when we do not have any other MSR we are working on. I just supported DD on her first Ink so that will be additional URs for me and we will probably help her with some of the MSR.

Saw on Frequent Miler that the Marriott Boundless (5) 50k certificate offer for $5k/3mos is back, which can often be a great deal. Here's the public offer. I believe you can top these off with 15k points. Note that these aren't as easy to use as straight points, so do some research before signing up. My support offer is only showing 3 certs, so the public offer is better.

TIP: When I've done this in the past, I've made the mistake of meeting the MSR too quickly. Because these are good from one year from distribution (mine we issued within a few days of hitting MSR), I wished I had slow walked the MSR so that I had a little more time with the certs.

ETA: We've previously used these at the Swan, Swan Reserve and/or Dolphin. Even the Swan Reserve looks like it tops out at 66k, so would fall within the 50k cert + top off.

I have never had any Marriott/Starwood cards and received a targeted offer with the 5 50k certificates. Previously we stayed at Marriott most of the time because they had rooms to accommodate 5 and were conveniently located. I would really like to get the certificates but with our vacation plans for this year and next year there is no way we could use them before they expire. Oh well I will just believe that there will be a better offer for us in the future.

 

[happ]

I was looking at random dates for the Swan and Dolphin. In Feb 2024 I see 5 nights for a total of 241,000 points. Each night is above 50,000/night but there's a free night included. Would you need to add points to each night or would you be able to use the certificates since the 5 nights are below 250,000 points in total?

I don't think you can use the 5th night free benefit with FNCs, so you'll probably need to add points.

 

[leeniewdw]

Anyone have any Jackson, WY hotel reccs? Probably booking through the UR portal.

Have decided to move forward with the Yellowstone/ grand Teton trip this summer, so if anyone has any great suggestions, let me know.

Currently flying SW into Bozeman, mt. Have 2 nights booked at at Mammoth hot springs hotel in the park, but the opening is currently delayed, so considering going to Gardiner MT if anyone happens to have any suggestions for there.

Then 2 nights at old faithful inn:

Then for 3 nights in Jackson where I still need a hotel.

Also fun activities and places to eat!

Jackson is going to be very high I think. I was shocked at the prices when I’ve looked in the past (we’ve done 3 Yellowstone/Tetons trips since 2015). Our favorite place to stay in the Tetons is Signal Mtn Lodge which is on Jackson Lake inside the park. Saves so much time as opposed to driving in from Jackson, but obviously points won’t help (unless you apply after the fact with some cards).

I’d even consider trying to find 1 night at Signal or Colter Bay and doing 2 in Jackson if you plan to spend time inside the parks or hiking. Signal has nice food options.

Every family is different of course and perhaps there are plans for several non park days, but for us, being in-park is worth it. Jackson is very busy and touristy.

It’s an amazing place to be, no matter where you stay.

 

[wweazel]

Jackson is going to be very high I think. I was shocked at the prices when I’ve looked in the past (we’ve done 3 Yellowstone/Tetons trips since 2015). Our favorite place to stay in the Tetons is Signal Mtn Lodge which is on Jackson Lake inside the park. Saves so much time as opposed to driving in from Jackson, but obviously points won’t help (unless you apply after the fact with some cards).

I’d even consider trying to find 1 night at Signal or Colter Bay and doing 2 in Jackson if you plan to spend time inside the parks or hiking. Signal has nice food options.

Every family is different of course and perhaps there are plans for several non park days, but for us, being in-park is worth it. Jackson is very busy and touristy.

It’s an amazing place to be, no matter where you stay.

I second the *very busy*. We couldn't even find a place to park in Jackson on our July trip 2 years ago. We planned to stop for pictures, cable car and lunch on our way up through Tetons to Yellowstone, and we ended up with a couple gas station snacks and driving north.

 

[mamapenguin]

I was approved for a SW card on 4/12, any idea how many business days until I see it?

 

[elgerber]

Thank you! This is very reassuring. I was hoping it was just a glitch.

Mine says the same today.

 

[mmmears]

Saw on Frequent Miler that the Marriott Boundless (5) 50k certificate offer for $5k/3mos is back, which can often be a great deal. Here's the public offer. I believe you can top these off with 15k points. Note that these aren't as easy to use as straight points, so do some research before signing up. My support offer is only showing 3 certs, so the public offer is better.

Thanks for the heads up. What do you think is reasonable pacing in terms of trying for this after getting a new CIC not too long ago?

I'll have to read up on the complicated Marriott card chart to see if my DH is eligible for this card while holding a Brilliant (I think that's the name of the one he has).

We dined at Frame restaurant which is a stones throw from the Eiffel Tower. Very yummy and decent prices.

Thanks so much. I'll check it out.

 

[mmmears]

Paris question - if you used the Metro recently, did you do a pay-as-you-go thing or has anyone tried the Navigo-Easy travel card?

 

[IFlossU]

Thanks for the heads up. What do you think is reasonable pacing in terms of trying for this after getting a new CIC not too long ago?

Depends on how many Chase cards you’ve had overall in the last year/amount of available credit across business and personal cards. If you haven’t had more than a couple of Chase cards in the past year I would say at least a month maybe 2 from last application. DH has had 4 cards in the past 12 months his last one approved 3/3/23. I’m going to wait until hopefully early June. If the offer is pulled in late May I’ll consider it. But I definitely try to abide by the 4 cards per 12 months spacing. Just my risk tolerance.

 

[Haley R]

So it looks like we will most likely fly out of PHL to Dublin at 8 pm on Labor Day. Should we risk flying in that morning? My gut says go the day before but that’s another day to pay for a hotel and I feel like we’ll just be sitting around with nothing to do until the next night.

 

[afan]

Freakin chase has decided to pull transunion for the marriott card instead of the equifax they always have pulled for years. So of course it was frozen and of course I can't call on the weekend to have them run it cause they aren't there until Monday. I don't even get this. I haven't had to unfreeze all 3 for chase cards since I had my credit frozen in like 2019. So confused.

 

[Zhoen]

There is a total solar eclipse on April 8th next year which is the reason schools around here (NY) are closed that day. It looks like Florida is not a state that will be impacted.

OMG!!!

This wasn't on my radar!!! We travelled south for the 2017 eclipse and it was amazing! Gotta start planning for this one!!! Thank you!!!!

 

[Jax1023]

Jackson is going to be very high I think. I was shocked at the prices when I’ve looked in the past (we’ve done 3 Yellowstone/Tetons trips since 2015). Our favorite place to stay in the Tetons is Signal Mtn Lodge which is on Jackson Lake inside the park. Saves so much time as opposed to driving in from Jackson, but obviously points won’t help (unless you apply after the fact with some cards).

I’d even consider trying to find 1 night at Signal or Colter Bay and doing 2 in Jackson if you plan to spend time inside the parks or hiking. Signal has nice food options.

Every family is different of course and perhaps there are plans for several non park days, but for us, being in-park is worth it. Jackson is very busy and touristy.

It’s an amazing place to be, no matter where you stay.

So I’m currently holding a reservation at signal mountain (which for the record is like $350 a night so certainly not cheap).

But was thinking after 4 nights in park in Yellowstone, the kids (and husband lol) might be ready for like wifi and a pool and some activities that aren’t hiking or looking at bison.

Was looking at the ariel tram, a river rafting trip and the rodeo. And I don’t want to drive back into the park at night after the rodeo.

 

[havaneselover]

So it looks like we will most likely fly out of PHL to Dublin at 8 pm on Labor Day. Should we risk flying in that morning? My gut says go the day before but that’s another day to pay for a hotel and I feel like we’ll just be sitting around with nothing to do until the next night.

You're flying out of FL close to peak huricane season. That's probably the only thing that would make me want a decent buffer. I'm too big of a chicken to consider positioning flights for international travel.

 

[mmmears]

So it looks like we will most likely fly out of PHL to Dublin at 8 pm on Labor Day. Should we risk flying in that morning? My gut says go the day before but that’s another day to pay for a hotel and I feel like we’ll just be sitting around with nothing to do until the next night.

That's a holiday weekend, so I'd personally err on the side of caution but I'm cautious to begin with, so take that with a grain of salt. Philly is a really fun city to visit for a day, so you could do a bit of touring there.

Depends on how many Chase cards you’ve had overall in the last year/amount of available credit across business and personal cards. If you haven’t had more than a couple of Chase cards in the past year I would say at least a month maybe 2 from last application. DH has had 4 cards in the past 12 months his last one approved 3/3/23. I’m going to wait until hopefully early June. If the offer is pulled in late May I’ll consider it. But I definitely try to abide by the 4 cards per 12 months spacing. Just my risk tolerance.

Thanks. I think he's applied for 2 Ink cards in the last 12 months, so it's not too bad I guess. The last one was in January. I have no idea about the credit line but I think it's pretty high because of his CSR since they are more generous with that card (but nowhere near 50% of income).

We've been reading a lot of blogs, and I'm still not sure he can have both the Brilliant and the Boundless though. Why is this so complicated?