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

[LynnTH]

Hi I have a couple questions regarding those experienced with using Euros. Putting final
touches for upcoming trip. Last time we were on a Europe trip 10 years ago I ended up with too
many euros left over and had a friend buy them.

Now for a 10 day cruise and 3 land days how much should I get? Doing 6 guided tours. So do we tip them and how much? Same with taxis. Plan to use a Visa with no foreign transaction fees for meals. Have a
coworker who just got back and she said she tipped 2 or 3 euros MAX for meals and tours/taxis. That seems
rather low. Thank you for your help!

*starting in Barcelona and ending in Rome

Went on European Cruise last year to Italy, Greece and Turkey with an additional 2 days in Italy and Greece. We were a party of 7. We ended up booking all Private Tours and Transportation. So, we knew in advance a lot of the costs. Most of them wanted to be paid in cash at the time of the tour. So, we got Euros for all of those plus we tipped at least 20% for these tours, so got Euros for that also. And then added a few hundred more for those shops/restaurants that did not take CC. I then ordered small envelopes off Amazon and filled each one with the days tour $ and tip $. Just helped to have all that organized in advance. Hope that helps some.

 

[LynnTH]

@CaliforniaGirl09 - I am so sorry for your loss. What a heartbreaking time for you and your family. Thoughts and prayers go out to you!

 

[GZanta77]

Hi I have a couple questions regarding those experienced with using Euros. Putting final
touches for upcoming trip. Last time we were on a Europe trip 10 years ago I ended up with too
many euros left over and had a friend buy them.

Now for a 10 day cruise and 3 land days how much should I get? Doing 6 guided tours. So do we tip them and how much? Same with taxis. Plan to use a Visa with no foreign transaction fees for meals. Have a
coworker who just got back and she said she tipped 2 or 3 euros MAX for meals and tours/taxis. That seems
rather low. Thank you for your help!

*starting in Barcelona and ending in Rome

I think you won't go far wrong following a 10% tip policy in Europe for meals and tours - you will probably find yourself amongst the more generous tippers with this policy. Of course, if you think service was exceptional then you are free to add a few Euros more. For taxis - 1 or 2 Euros should be fine, but again I generally use 10% as a guideline so if the fare is €35 I would tip 3 or 4 Euros.

Tipping culture in Europe has not got out of hand like it has here, and many people do not tip at all - or like your friend, just leave 2 or 3 Euros. That is perfectly normal there at cafe's, coffee shops etc. It drives me insane over here when I buy a bottle of coke off the shelf at a sporting arena and am presented with a screen requesting an 18, 20 or 22% tip.

 

[mmmears]

I've tried at a Home 2 Suites and a Hampton Inn (to pay the $75 pet fee) and the front desk people have no idea how to apply the gift cards. I'm guessing if a manager were available they could figure it out.

They tried to apply them but when they ran it through the card scanner they said it was denied (try tried multiple times). The issue is with the cards themselves from what we can tell.

 

[disneyfan551]

I’m 3/5 right now and wanting to apply for the Chase Ink Business Preferred. However, my last card (CSR) was opened 3/12/24. Any chance of acceptance even though I’m not waiting the 90 days for another Chase card? I have two trips coming up and would love to get started on the required spend.

 

[GZanta77]

I’m 3/5 right now and wanting to apply for the Chase Ink Business Preferred. However, my last card (CSR) was opened 3/12/24. Any chance of acceptance even though I’m not waiting the 90 days for another Chase card? I have two trips coming up and would love to get started on the required spend.

Yes - you could get approved as your last Chase app was more than 30 days ago. The 90 days is a recommendation rather than a rule, so your chance of success will be determined by the usual factors - Credit Utilization, Amount of credit with Chase (and ratio to income), Velocity of chase applications etc.

You might want to consider reducing credit limits on existing cards to improve chances of success. Good luck.

 

[Princess Michele]

I know this subject has come up before, but I never dreamed that I would be in this position. As a few of you know, four weeks ago my 54-year-old husband died suddenly and unexpectedly. Of all the many things to deal with since that horrible day, I have started to think about points/credit cards. He was an active player 2 and probably had 15 cards (including high annual fees ones that we haven't gotten all the benefits of).

Literally the day after he passed, he received an email from Southwest that he'd qualified for the companion pass. We were also $5,000 away from a 2 for 1 on BA with his Chase BA credit card

I have a few questions for anyone who might have dealt with the death of a spouse:

1. Any chance in transferring the companion pass? I know the rules say "no" but I wonder if anyone has been able to talk them into it.

2. Anything I should watch out for or be aware of?

3. I have moved the points that I can so far, and I plan to make bookings with any points I can't for myself or my kids.

4. Is there any chance of getting partial annual fee refunds on some of his high annual fee cards (especially those where I haven't used all the credits, i.e. Hilton Aspire, Amex Plat., etc).

5. Can you cancel Chase cards via chat? His Amex Gold card just came up for annual fee so I cancelled that one via chat.

6. I'm trying to keep as many accounts open for now until I come up with a plan.

Any help would be appreciated. In the realm of things this is very low priority, but I don't want to make any stupid mistakes.

I am so sorry for you loss and what you and your family are going through.

 

[wdwpluto]

How does one find out what Hyatt category a hotel is? Looking at the Mayfair in Christchurch, New Zealand and can't figure it out

ETA:
on their site it gives the option to book this:

World of Hyatt Free Night Award
WOH Night Points Redemption Award. Rate eligible to earn tier credit only - no points.
Cancellation Policy
Please Be Aware That Cancellations Made Less Than 2 Days Before 14:00 on the Day of Arrival Will Incur A Charge of 1 Night.
From
20,250
Points/Night

What does that mean???? (I'm a Hyatt newbie lol)

 

[CyndiLouWho]

How does one find out what Hyatt category a hotel is? Looking at the Mayfair in Christchurch, New Zealand and can't figure it out

ETA:
on their site it gives the option to book this:

World of Hyatt Free Night Award
WOH Night Points Redemption Award. Rate eligible to earn tier credit only - no points.
Cancellation Policy
Please Be Aware That Cancellations Made Less Than 2 Days Before 14:00 on the Day of Arrival Will Incur A Charge of 1 Night.
From
20,250
Points/Night

What does that mean???? (I'm a Hyatt newbie lol)

It means you can book a free night starting at 20,250 points. If available. Usually it list the category under the hotel name but it seems to be missing.
If available an award would look like this

 

[wanderlust7]

How does one find out what Hyatt category a hotel is? Looking at the Mayfair in Christchurch, New Zealand and can't figure it out

ETA:
on their site it gives the option to book this:

World of Hyatt Free Night Award
WOH Night Points Redemption Award. Rate eligible to earn tier credit only - no points.
Cancellation Policy
Please Be Aware That Cancellations Made Less Than 2 Days Before 14:00 on the Day of Arrival Will Incur A Charge of 1 Night.
From
20,250
Points/Night

What does that mean???? (I'm a Hyatt newbie lol)

It's a Mr and Mrs Smith hotel, which is a Hyatt partnership and not a true Hyatt. It has dynamic award pricing. Hyatt hotels have categories and a fixed points chart. Looks like you'd get a little over 1 cent per point compared to the cash rate, which is poor for Hyatt redemptions.

 

[MsOnceUponATime]

Is there enough to do in Saint Martin/Sint Maarten for a week's stay? AF has come up with dirt cheap flights from IAH and I'm intriqued. I've only been there for a day on DCL, but I enjoyed it.

Bumping to see if anyone has any feedback on Saint Martin/Sint Maarten. Plan to use MR's to transfer to AF for the flights and possibly do a MR>Hilton transfer too.

 

[LilSweetPeaPhoto]

I'm sure I have 97 pages to go back and read. I got my response on my attempt for CIU #3 w/o closing any other cards.

You have too many active accounts or too much available credit
New Chase business card recently opened
Low usage of Chase credit line(s)
Your current amount of credit is enough in relation to your income

I attempted to open this card for a "new" business. I put it as tutoring but said it's been around for 10+ years. Am I screwed on getting another card? I recently closed the IHG Biz just before this. And I think I'm going to close one of my CICs as I don't need 2. I guess I should work on switching over my billing on my older CIU and maybe close that too.

How long am I out of the game? I have 2 CICs, 2 CIUs. I have a legit business. My last CIU was in Nov 23! My last chase card was then too! I spend on all of my cards. I need a new card 4 mos ago for all the medical bills I have piled up. UGH. And I'm at 4/24 so I don't want to open a new personal card. I can't do another IHG Biz until mid June. And I don't know if Amex likes me right now, LOL.

 

[KPK02090]

Thought I'd share a data point on product changing to a Freedom since I think it's been discussed a bit here about them not offering the OG Freedom. I just called to product change my CSP to a Freedom. I said I'd like to switch it to a UR earning Freedom and she said ok, read me all the stuff, rotating categories, terms and conditions, etc, asked if I had any questions, I said I'd like to confirm it's a Visa card and she said it was.

 

[StephPlum]

I need to get out of Amex pop up jail. I want to close my biz gold when renewal comes up in a few months. It is my only MR card so I need another MR earning card to pool my points. Tried for BBP but got the pop up. It’s crazy but I may just end up getting it without the sub if I have to.

Any tactics that work? Any links that bypass pop ups out there? I’m going to try to put spend on all my Amex cards for the next few months. Hopefully that helps.

 

[wanderlust7]

I need to get out of Amex pop up jail. I want to close my biz gold when renewal comes up in a few months. It is my only MR card so I need another MR earning card to pool my points. Tried for BBP but got the pop up. It’s crazy but I may just end up getting it without the sub if I have to.

Any tactics that work? Any links that bypass pop ups out there? I’m going to try to put spend on all my Amex cards for the next few months. Hopefully that helps.

Did you use a support or was it one of the higher BBP offers? Sometimes you can get pop-up with one offer but not another.

Another option if you have a P2 who can support you, they'd still get the support bonus even if you get the card without the SUB. There's a support offer for points plus 10x restaurants, ending tomorrow.

I've seen DPs of people putting tens of thousands of spend on their cards and still getting pop-up. I used to think maybe it helps, but now it feels a bit futile to me.

 

[newski_mom]

I need to get out of Amex pop up jail. I want to close my biz gold when renewal comes up in a few months. It is my only MR card so I need another MR earning card to pool my points. Tried for BBP but got the pop up. It’s crazy but I may just end up getting it without the sub if I have to.

Any tactics that work? Any links that bypass pop ups out there? I’m going to try to put spend on all my Amex cards for the next few months. Hopefully that helps.

I'm not in pop-up jail, but I need to close both DH and my gold card. My problem is, I really don't want another MR card right now. I'm debating between cashing out for gift cards, or leaving them because we each have a checking account that I believe we can "hold" them in until I'm ready to get new cards.

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

Another option if you have a P2 who can support you, they'd still get the support bonus even if you get the card without the SUB. There's a support offer for points plus 10x restaurants, ending tomorrow.

I did exactly as @wanderlust7 describes above. DH received the pop up with the support offer (20k +10x restaurants) but I proceeded with the application and he was approved. So he won't get the bonus, but I'll still get the 20k +10x on restaurants, which makes it 2x on restaurants. Tagging @StephPlum

 

[StephPlum]

Did you use a support or was it one of the higher BBP offers? Sometimes you can get pop-up with one offer but not another.

Another option if you have a P2 who can support you, they'd still get the support bonus even if you get the card without the SUB. There's a support offer for points plus 10x restaurants, ending tomorrow.

I've seen DPs of people putting tens of thousands of spend on their cards and still getting pop-up. I used to think maybe it helps, but now it feels a bit futile to me.

I tried both (actually forgot the support route at first). Both gave me the pop-up. I did try one logging in and one incognito.
Good to know about support bonus even if I don't get the sub.

I'm not in pop-up jail, but I need to close both DH and my gold card. My problem is, I really don't want another MR card right now. I'm debating between cashing out for gift cards, or leaving them because we each have a checking account that I believe we can "hold" them in until I'm ready to get new cards.

I only have the one MR card and hope to use the MRs for future flights.

 

[Arcades]

I'm sure I have 97 pages to go back and read. I got my response on my attempt for CIU #3 w/o closing any other cards.

You have too many active accounts or too much available credit
New Chase business card recently opened
Low usage of Chase credit line(s)
Your current amount of credit is enough in relation to your income

I attempted to open this card for a "new" business. I put it as tutoring but said it's been around for 10+ years. Am I screwed on getting another card? I recently closed the IHG Biz just before this. And I think I'm going to close one of my CICs as I don't need 2. I guess I should work on switching over my billing on my older CIU and maybe close that too.

How long am I out of the game? I have 2 CICs, 2 CIUs. I have a legit business. My last CIU was in Nov 23! My last chase card was then too! I spend on all of my cards. I need a new card 4 mos ago for all the medical bills I have piled up. UGH. And I'm at 4/24 so I don't want to open a new personal card. I can't do another IHG Biz until mid June. And I don't know if Amex likes me right now, LOL.

When I was denied for SW Biz Premier (to earn a CP), I called recon and the primary focus was the number of business cards opened in the last 12 months. So, I'm waiting until June which will drop my X/12 count to 3 and see how I fare (it was 6 at the time of application). I also maxed out my credit lines on two business cards with lower limits ($1,000) and am waiting until the statement closes before paying it off.

Chase is almost like the Amex Pop Jail now, there's no formula, only factors and luck.

 

[PrincessGidget]

Hi. I have been following along trying to educate myself a little bit (not ready to jump in) but I am stumped by “pop up”. Will someone please explain what that means. Thanks.