I love credit cards so much!

[mhartman09]

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.

Thanks! I guess the CSR would be the better option at this point. I swear, I'm kicking myself for jumping on so many cash back cards over the last couple of years without looking into anything more. I can't imagine how many times we could have flown to places instead of making long drives simply because we didn't want to pay OOP for such expensive flights.

 

[calypso726]

does this also apply at WDW?

Yes. We were at Food & Wine every weekend a few months ago. We stayed at Beach Club Villas and attached the CSR to our magic bands. We paid everything with our magic bands and everything coded as travel since it was a hotel charge.

 

[Ngwira]

Just purchased Southwest gift cards to use up my $300 airline credits for my AMEX Platinum and PRG. I'm also seriously considering a trip to Montreal over spring break using points of course.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

Just purchased Southwest gift cards to use up my $300 airline credits for my AMEX Platinum and PRG. I'm also seriously considering a trip to Montreal over spring break using points of course.

Have you been to Quebec City? DH and I went there about 5 years ago. It was our first trip together and it was really great! We drove from Toronto and stayed at the Four Points Sheraton on the outskirts of the city. It was a very affordable vacation.

 

[MrPTato]

Just purchased Southwest gift cards to use up my $300 airline credits for my AMEX Platinum and PRG. I'm also seriously considering a trip to Montreal over spring break using points of course.

Does the $200 incidental credit apply to gift cards? Can you choose SWA as the qualifying airline?

 

[Rjw615]

Ugh! So as we all know Chase is ending the 100,000 signup on the CSR. My wife got it in October, I was going to wait until July or August to get it to maximize the two $300 travel credits. I don't want to get the card right now per say because I would have a hard time getting in the two $300 travel credits. I see the offer will remain in branch until March 12th? Closest branch to me is New Orleans, two n half hours away. Wife and I got married over there and like to take small weekend getaway trips there a few times a year anyway, so I figure we will get over there and apply for the card in branch, maybe like at the end of Feb so we can maximize the travel credit this year than in Jan of 2018.

My question is, I don't have any affiliation with Chase other than a couple of credit cards, I only have two cards in the last 24 months, am I allowed to go into the branch and apply or is it only for people with like checking and savings accounts? I am guessing so, anybody had experience? I see no reason I wouldn't get approved but would hate to make a trip over and not get approved for whatever obscure reason or not able to apply.

 

[calypso726]

Ugh! So as we all know Chase is ending the 100,000 signup on the CSR. My wife got it in October, I was going to wait until July or August to get it to maximize the two $300 travel credits. I don't want to get the card right now per say because I would have a hard time getting in the two $300 travel credits. I see the offer will remain in branch until March 12th? Closest branch to me is New Orleans, two n half hours away. Wife and I got married over there and like to take small weekend getaway trips there a few times a year anyway, so I figure we will get over there and apply for the card in branch, maybe like at the end of Feb so we can maximize the travel credit this year than in Jan of 2018.

My question is, I don't have any affiliation with Chase other than a couple of credit cards, I only have two cards in the last 24 months, am I allowed to go into the branch and apply or is it only for people with like checking and savings accounts? I am guessing so, anybody had experience? I see no reason I wouldn't get approved but would hate to make a trip over and not get approved for whatever obscure reason or not able to apply.

The data points I recall on Reddit showed that people could go in branch without being Chase checking/savings customers. None the less, there are often bonuses for opening up a Chase checking account. I did one for a $200 bonus and use it as a vacation fund. Doctor of Credit usually has a list of these offers for checking/savings accounts. If you're going to go to the branch anyhow, might as well get a couple hundred bucks out of it if possible.

 

[Ngwira]

Have you been to Quebec City? DH and I went there about 5 years ago. It was our first trip together and it was really great! We drove from Toronto and stayed at the Four Points Sheraton on the outskirts of the city. It was a very affordable vacation.

Never been but we will be taking Amtrak from Philly so won't have access to a car to drive to Quebec City. The round trip price for 2 adults and 2 kids is around $300.00 (11 hour trip which is nothing compared to 17 hours on the autotrain). My Discover It has 5x category on ground transportation which includes Amtrak, so win win. I will book the hotel through the UR portal. Looking at the Le St-Martin Montreal Hotel Particulier. 3 nights are 24,000 UR as it's on sale. It's a 4 star hotel. There are also a number of activities that are dirt cheap on the UR portal too, something like 5,000 UR total for all 4 of us for the biodome and another attraction. The zoo up there is even cheaper.

 

[Ngwira]

Does the $200 incidental credit apply to gift cards? Can you choose SWA as the qualifying airline?

Yes, you have to choose SW or WN as your airline, then buy $100 gift cards from southwest.com. You will be reimbursed by AMEX via travel credit.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

Never been but we will be taking Amtrak from Philly so won't have access to a car to drive to Quebec City. The round trip price for 2 adults and 2 kids is around $300.00 (11 hour trip which is nothing compared to 17 hours on the autotrain). My Discover It has 5x category on ground transportation which includes Amtrak, so win win. I will book the hotel through the UR portal. Looking at the Le St. Martin Particular Hotel Montreal. 3 nights are 24,000 UR as it's on sale. It's a 4 star hotel. There are also a number of activities that are dirt cheap on the UR portal too, something like 5,000 UR total for all 4 of us for the biodome and another attraction. The zoo up there is even cheaper.

It is a good time to travel in Canada. The exchange rate is very much in our favor. Sounds like a really nice trip.

 

[Ngwira]

It is a good time to travel in Canada. The exchange rate is very much in our favor. Sounds like a really nice trip.

Thanks. Please help me choose the best value. The Le St Martin is $359.80 or 23,945 UR points for 3 nights, The Hilton Garden Inn Montreal is 21,000 UR, the Westin is 26,000 UR or the Holiday Inn is only 19,342 UR. The holiday inn includes breakfast and I have status at the holiday inn and hilton garden inn (gold). Obviously free breakfast when you are travelling with kids is huge, but I also want to stay in luxury... which would you choose?

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

Thanks. Please help me choose the best value. The Le St Martin is $359.80 or 23,945 UR points for 3 nights, The Hilton Garden Inn Montreal is 21,000 UR, the Westin is 26,000 UR or the Holiday Inn is only 19,342 UR. The holiday inn includes breakfast and I have status at the holiday inn and hilton garden inn (gold). Obviously free breakfast when you are travelling with kids is huge, but I also want to stay in luxury... which would you choose?

I'm not a super picky person and so I would probably opt for the Holiday Inn with free breakfast. That or the Westin, but I always try to stay at SPG hotels to rack up points. I have to say, eliminating the cost of an entire meal for 4 people each day is pretty big. That is why DH and I always take breakfast bars along when we travel if we don't have breakfast included. I looked up the hotels and several of each brand popped up. I saw the Holiday Inn Centreville Montreal. Is this the one you are looking at? If so, it has a cool China town theme.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Ugh! So as we all know Chase is ending the 100,000 signup on the CSR. My wife got it in October, I was going to wait until July or August to get it to maximize the two $300 travel credits. I don't want to get the card right now per say because I would have a hard time getting in the two $300 travel credits. I see the offer will remain in branch until March 12th? Closest branch to me is New Orleans, two n half hours away. Wife and I got married over there and like to take small weekend getaway trips there a few times a year anyway, so I figure we will get over there and apply for the card in branch, maybe like at the end of Feb so we can maximize the travel credit this year than in Jan of 2018.

My question is, I don't have any affiliation with Chase other than a couple of credit cards, I only have two cards in the last 24 months, am I allowed to go into the branch and apply or is it only for people with like checking and savings accounts? I am guessing so, anybody had experience? I see no reason I wouldn't get approved but would hate to make a trip over and not get approved for whatever obscure reason or not able to apply.

Don't know about the applying in branch but you will only have 1 $300 credit until next year (well, December). You can get a gift card direct from airline or hotel & get the $300 credit. Chase does right now have an offer for $200 to open checking account & additional $300 for a savings account with 15k deposit.

 

[WDWRook]

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!

Did you consider the Korean Air trick? I'm surprised that would not result in a lower cost. Although, I've been hounding the UR portal for Delta tickets from DTW to MCO and its down to a 9000 point difference between UR and Korean Air. I'm waiting for Spirit Airlines to release their tickets for October to see what those will cost via UR Portal before I pull the trigger.

 

[WDWRook]

Ugh! So as we all know Chase is ending the 100,000 signup on the CSR. My wife got it in October, I was going to wait until July or August to get it to maximize the two $300 travel credits. I don't want to get the card right now per say because I would have a hard time getting in the two $300 travel credits. I see the offer will remain in branch until March 12th? Closest branch to me is New Orleans, two n half hours away. Wife and I got married over there and like to take small weekend getaway trips there a few times a year anyway, so I figure we will get over there and apply for the card in branch, maybe like at the end of Feb so we can maximize the travel credit this year than in Jan of 2018.

My question is, I don't have any affiliation with Chase other than a couple of credit cards, I only have two cards in the last 24 months, am I allowed to go into the branch and apply or is it only for people with like checking and savings accounts? I am guessing so, anybody had experience? I see no reason I wouldn't get approved but would hate to make a trip over and not get approved for whatever obscure reason or not able to apply.

Same issue here. I got the CSR. Plan was to get one for the wife in March/April timeframe. I might just pull the trigger this weekend. If my understanding is correct, your second $300 credit will apply from December 2017 of the date you open the account in January 2017 (i.e. open it January 7th, any purchase after December 7, 2017 will hit the invoice that issues in January 2018 and thus applies the new $300 credit.) Hope I'm correct on that. But, I'll just wait until Jan 2, 2018 and put $300 into our DVA.

EDIT: plus our annual DVC dues are due by Jan 15th, so I can apply those toward the new spend on the new CSR.

 

[Ngwira]

I'm not a super picky person and so I would probably opt for the Holiday Inn with free breakfast. That or the Westin, but I always try to stay at SPG hotels to rack up points. I have to say, eliminating the cost of an entire meal for 4 people each day is pretty big. That is why DH and I always take breakfast bars along when we travel if we don't have breakfast included. I looked up the hotels and several of each brand popped up. I saw the Holiday Inn Centreville Montreal. Is this the one you are looking at? If so, it has a cool China town theme.

Yes, that's the one. Thanks for your advice.

 

[WDWRook]

Just applied and got instant approval for a CSR for the wife. I need to call Chase though and cut down these crazy credit limits they are providing. They event significantly increased my Disney Visa without notice.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

Yes, that's the one. Thanks for your advice.

Honestly, the difference in cost between them isn't huge, so if you have a preference for one over the rest I would go with that. And everyone travels differently. For DH and me, we aren't usually in our hotel room much so it matters less to us than other things. On our honeymoon road trip, we stayed several nights at Holiday Inn Express hotels. We really like them because breakfast was included and they had washing machines for us to use. If we had to choose, we would rather spend our money on activities than on expensive rooms. But maybe once we have kids, our needs and desires will change.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

Just applied and got instant approval for a CSR for the wife. I need to call Chase though and cut down these crazy credit limits they are providing. They event significantly increased my Disney Visa without notice.

Why? It helps your overall credit score. Mine jumped a ton from the insanely high credit limit I got on my CSR.

 

[MrPTato]

Just applied and got instant approval for a CSR for the wife. I need to call Chase though and cut down these crazy credit limits they are providing. They event significantly increased my Disney Visa without notice.

Amazing the limits on these cards, and the Disney Card. My wife has had her card grown bigger than I would imagine...may be that we put DVC purchase on it.