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

[Moneypenny]

You would get the offer you applied under. It doesn't matter if approval is after the offer ends. It would actually work in your favor since the MSR period doesn't start until it's approved, so then you have more time in the new year.

Oh, fantastic! Thank you.

 

[wanderlust7]

Still advice for a credit card for my husband. This wouldn’t be a churning CC, but one he would keep long term for business trip expenses. I have him as an AU on some of my cards, but none of them are travel focused cards. His workplace does not have a corporate card so he charges to our personal cards & gets reimbursed.

He mostly stays at Marriott hotels (but not always depending on the conference)
He mostly flies Delta/AA but is not dedicated since sometimes a low cost airline will fly direct to where he needs to go. So he doesn’t have status so lounge access would be nice.

Anything where he has to book through a specific portal would probably not be great. He already made mistake on a flight to a speaking engagement this past Sunday where he booked a 6am flight vs a 6pm flight (did manage to get a same day change on that one).

Averaging $4-5k in spend a month.

The Chase Sapphire Reserve would be an easier one to keep long term. Annual fee is $550, comes with a $300 credit that applies to any travel. So he can just set and forget, then the effective AF is $250. Comes with Priority Pass for lounge access and there are a few Chase Sapphire lounges now. Earns 3x dining and any travel. Has great travel insurance just for charging it to the card.

Unique transfer partners are Hyatt (where most of my points go), Southwest, and United. Can be cashed out easily for 1 cent per point. Or 1.25 cpp if you do Pay Yourself Back for specific categories that change.

If he's interested in Centurion Lounges, then the Amex Platinum. AF $695. There are benefits to recoup that, but it's not as straightforward as the CSR. For example, the airline credit is for incidentals, but there are loopholes around that.

 

[VGCgroupie]

The trip we’ve been waiting for what seems like forever is almost here!! We are heading out tomorrow. It’ll be DH, myself, DS, his wife and my 4 year old grandson. We are driving 4 hours to Nashville, spending the night at the Hyatt House (transferred 9,500 UR), then we have a 5:50 am flight to catch Sunday morning from BNA on SWA. We paid cash for our SWA tickets, but was able to use a 30% off code that I received when there was a promo applying for the SWA Personal Chase card. So with the discount we paid $770 each for 4 Anytime tickets, then DH was my free companion. Our route is BNA to LAS with a 2 hour layover, then LAS to HNL. Side note - DH is a smoker and from what I have found LAS has smoking lounges inside. I hope that’s true, because the only thing I dread on this long flight is him being so cranky because he hasn’t had a cigarette in 15 hours. This will be DH and I’s first time on the west coast of the USA. We tend to go east. This is our very first time to go to Aulani. DS and I bought my second, but his first 150 point DVC contract together last year. We bought it in July and requested an August UY so we could bank the remaining 2023 points (after DH immediately took a quick WDW trip) and use all of the 2024 points to book a 2 BR. Then we had to borrow 48 of our 2025 points because they decided to add one more night to our stay. We ended up doing the Island Garden View instead of Ocean View to save points. I requested a high floor luau view in Ewa tower, which would give us a partial ocean view so hoping that comes through. We went through Alamo and rented a Jeep, started out at $700+ for the week, but after lots of cancellations and rebooking because of price drops, as of yesterday it’s $490. We don’t really have much planned as this seems so overwhelming to me. We paid $1 each for Pearl Harbor tickets for Wednesday and I’m still confused as to what that allows us to do. Then we have Makahiki character breakfast on Thursday. That’s all we’ve planned. DS wants to find a good steakhouse to go to one night. We will just go out and drive around and just see what we stumble on to do I guess. I’m a big planner so just going with the flow is way out of my comfort zone. I want a relaxing trip, but also I want to do and see the things that make Hawaii special. I’m up for any suggestions! We will be at Aulani from Sunday to Saturday morning. We have an 8:00 am flight coming home. Will be back at BNA at 11:30 pm so we booked the Hyatt Place with 8,000 UR to spend the night and then will make the 4 hour drive back home Sunday morning. Then it’s back to work on Monday. I know we are going to be so exhausted with all the time changes catching back up to us. I hope this is the best trip. I know it’s not as extravagant as the places most of you go, but this is a big deal for us. I’m hoping these long flights go well and I can start talking DH into going to places like Europe soon! The struggle I have with him and smoking is a lot. I just wish he’d quit.
On another note, we have a RCCL trip to Alaska booked for June 2025 for my parents 50th anniversary and he keeps saying he’s not going. It’ll be my parents, my 2 sisters and their spouses, me and DH. And he is giving me such a hard time about it. I don’t particularly want to go either, we are more going to tropical places kinda people, but it’s for my parents. I keep telling him once we get there, I’m sure we are going to love it, but he’s not buying it. If it was a 4-5 day cruise, he wouldn’t be this way, but since it’s a 7 day one, he’s just not having it. So we’ll see how this goes the closer it gets to June. I know several people that’s been on Alaskan cruises and they all loved it. We really just need to get out more, we basically only go to WDW a few times a year and maybe to orange beach or destin once a year. Sometimes we go on a 4 day cruise to Cozumel or the Bahamas.

We had an Island Ewa Tower and I requested Luau view and we got it. We did a split stay Studio Ocean View and 1 Bed Island Garden View. I would have been fine with the Island Garden View the whole time. It was beautiful. If you go to the DVC checkin they are very nice, she printed out the view from the rooms for me to see to make my decision. Have a great time at Aulani. Just saw a trip report with the view from a 2bed Island room 1675. So you can see it and maybe request that room if you like the view or a floor above or below it. https://www.disboards.com/threads/aulani-with-my-2-adult-sons.3954152/post-65735095

 

[VGCgroupie]

There are benefits to recoup that, but it's not as straightforward as the CSR. For example, the airline credit is for incidentals, but there are loopholes around that.

Where can I read up on the loopholes?

 

[wanderlust7]

Where can I read up on the loopholes?

There are DP threads on Flyertalk for each airline. Easier ones are United Travel Bank and Southwest flight <$100 (possibly up to $108 but feels a little risky).

Always good to check the lastest DPs since even though these have worked for awhile, things can change at any time.

 

[VGCgroupie]

There are DP threads on Flyertalk for each airline. Easier ones are United Travel Bank and Southwest flight <$100 (possibly up to $108 but feels a little risky).

Always good to check the lastest DPs since even though these have worked for awhile, things can change at any time.

For some reason my computer has never let me load flyer talk. It's so strange.

I found a couple things on Reddit by googling. Thanks!

 

[havaneselover]

Need advice for a card for DS (19). He's working part time and in school part time. He's an authorized user on my Amex BCP (which he can use for groceries or for other items with permission) and his dad's Apple card. It seems like his step-mom doesn't like that arrangement. DS buys stuff on the Apple card then immediately sends his dad the money (I see the emails from Capital One). He also was allowed to use it for gas and groceries (he splits his time between our houses but his dad doesn't keep much food in the house so he was allowed to go get what he wanted). I'm okay with him using my card for whatever he's buying and reimbursing me, but he liked the Apple card because he got to keep the Apple cash from his purchases. His dad is telling him he can basically get the card unlinked from his account so DS would be responsible for it but I'm pretty sure his dad has no clue what he's talking about. Thoughts on having him apply for a card? Would he not be eligible becasue he's not a full time student? If he got one, I would need access to the account to make sure things the bill was getting paid.

 

[becauseimnew]

Where can I read up on the loopholes?

You can buy a refundable SW flight, then once the credit post you can cancel the flight (refund to original payment method) and keep the $300 credit.

 

[magickingdomprincess]

The trip we’ve been waiting for what seems like forever is almost here!! We are heading out tomorrow. It’ll be DH, myself, DS, his wife and my 4 year old grandson. We are driving 4 hours to Nashville, spending the night at the Hyatt House (transferred 9,500 UR), then we have a 5:50 am flight to catch Sunday morning from BNA on SWA. We paid cash for our SWA tickets, but was able to use a 30% off code that I received when there was a promo applying for the SWA Personal Chase card. So with the discount we paid $770 each for 4 Anytime tickets, then DH was my free companion. Our route is BNA to LAS with a 2 hour layover, then LAS to HNL. Side note - DH is a smoker and from what I have found LAS has smoking lounges inside. I hope that’s true, because the only thing I dread on this long flight is him being so cranky because he hasn’t had a cigarette in 15 hours. This will be DH and I’s first time on the west coast of the USA. We tend to go east. This is our very first time to go to Aulani. DS and I bought my second, but his first 150 point DVC contract together last year. We bought it in July and requested an August UY so we could bank the remaining 2023 points (after DH immediately took a quick WDW trip) and use all of the 2024 points to book a 2 BR. Then we had to borrow 48 of our 2025 points because they decided to add one more night to our stay. We ended up doing the Island Garden View instead of Ocean View to save points. I requested a high floor luau view in Ewa tower, which would give us a partial ocean view so hoping that comes through. We went through Alamo and rented a Jeep, started out at $700+ for the week, but after lots of cancellations and rebooking because of price drops, as of yesterday it’s $490. We don’t really have much planned as this seems so overwhelming to me. We paid $1 each for Pearl Harbor tickets for Wednesday and I’m still confused as to what that allows us to do. Then we have Makahiki character breakfast on Thursday. That’s all we’ve planned. DS wants to find a good steakhouse to go to one night. We will just go out and drive around and just see what we stumble on to do I guess. I’m a big planner so just going with the flow is way out of my comfort zone. I want a relaxing trip, but also I want to do and see the things that make Hawaii special. I’m up for any suggestions! We will be at Aulani from Sunday to Saturday morning. We have an 8:00 am flight coming home. Will be back at BNA at 11:30 pm so we booked the Hyatt Place with 8,000 UR to spend the night and then will make the 4 hour drive back home Sunday morning. Then it’s back to work on Monday. I know we are going to be so exhausted with all the time changes catching back up to us. I hope this is the best trip. I know it’s not as extravagant as the places most of you go, but this is a big deal for us. I’m hoping these long flights go well and I can start talking DH into going to places like Europe soon! The struggle I have with him and smoking is a lot. I just wish he’d quit.
On another note, we have a RCCL trip to Alaska booked for June 2025 for my parents 50th anniversary and he keeps saying he’s not going. It’ll be my parents, my 2 sisters and their spouses, me and DH. And he is giving me such a hard time about it. I don’t particularly want to go either, we are more going to tropical places kinda people, but it’s for my parents. I keep telling him once we get there, I’m sure we are going to love it, but he’s not buying it. If it was a 4-5 day cruise, he wouldn’t be this way, but since it’s a 7 day one, he’s just not having it. So we’ll see how this goes the closer it gets to June. I know several people that’s been on Alaskan cruises and they all loved it. We really just need to get out more, we basically only go to WDW a few times a year and maybe to orange beach or destin once a year. Sometimes we go on a 4 day cruise to Cozumel or the Bahamas.

I hope you have a wonderful trip! We went for 4 night in July and had a great time (also 5 nights on the BI). I did want to make sure that you're aware that there's no smoking at Aulani, or I think the whole Ko Olina area. I didn't realize this, and was quite a surprise for my DH.

The $1 PH ticket is to ride on the boat to the USS Arizona memorial. You should have an assigned time, make sure you're there at the right time or you probably won't be able to visit the Arizona. The rest of of the time you can walk around the different buildings/exhibits there. Make sure to bring a clear purse or get a locker, and don't leave any valuables in your car while there

We did the Kuoloa Ranch UTV raptor tour, which was really neat but expensive. It's where Jurassic Park and a lot of other movies/shows are filmed. After that we also went to the Byoda-In Temple, which was neat but not something to go way out of your way for. We also had the kids do surf lessons with Uncle Bryan's on the North Shore, which was a really great experience.

As far as Aulani, do you know about the sparkle DVC pool bands? And the free popcorn refills?

If I think of anything else I'll post again. Have a wonderful trip!

 

[VGCgroupie]

You can buy a refundable SW flight, then once the credit post you can cancel the flight (refund to original payment method) and keep the $300 credit.

The platinum biz only works on incidentals like baggage, would be so much better if it were on flight purchases.

 

[becauseimnew]

The platinum biz only works on incidentals like baggage, would be so much better if it were on flight purchases.

Sorry, I thought they were talking about CSR.
Yeah, for Amex Plat cards SW and United under $100.
I

 

[djmeredith]

The trip we’ve been waiting for what seems like forever is almost here!! We are heading out tomorrow. It’ll be DH, myself, DS, his wife and my 4 year old grandson. We are driving 4 hours to Nashville, spending the night at the Hyatt House (transferred 9,500 UR), then we have a 5:50 am flight to catch Sunday morning from BNA on SWA. We paid cash for our SWA tickets, but was able to use a 30% off code that I received when there was a promo applying for the SWA Personal Chase card. So with the discount we paid $770 each for 4 Anytime tickets, then DH was my free companion. Our route is BNA to LAS with a 2 hour layover, then LAS to HNL. Side note - DH is a smoker and from what I have found LAS has smoking lounges inside. I hope that’s true, because the only thing I dread on this long flight is him being so cranky because he hasn’t had a cigarette in 15 hours. This will be DH and I’s first time on the west coast of the USA. We tend to go east. This is our very first time to go to Aulani. DS and I bought my second, but his first 150 point DVC contract together last year. We bought it in July and requested an August UY so we could bank the remaining 2023 points (after DH immediately took a quick WDW trip) and use all of the 2024 points to book a 2 BR. Then we had to borrow 48 of our 2025 points because they decided to add one more night to our stay. We ended up doing the Island Garden View instead of Ocean View to save points. I requested a high floor luau view in Ewa tower, which would give us a partial ocean view so hoping that comes through. We went through Alamo and rented a Jeep, started out at $700+ for the week, but after lots of cancellations and rebooking because of price drops, as of yesterday it’s $490. We don’t really have much planned as this seems so overwhelming to me. We paid $1 each for Pearl Harbor tickets for Wednesday and I’m still confused as to what that allows us to do. Then we have Makahiki character breakfast on Thursday. That’s all we’ve planned. DS wants to find a good steakhouse to go to one night. We will just go out and drive around and just see what we stumble on to do I guess. I’m a big planner so just going with the flow is way out of my comfort zone. I want a relaxing trip, but also I want to do and see the things that make Hawaii special. I’m up for any suggestions! We will be at Aulani from Sunday to Saturday morning. We have an 8:00 am flight coming home. Will be back at BNA at 11:30 pm so we booked the Hyatt Place with 8,000 UR to spend the night and then will make the 4 hour drive back home Sunday morning. Then it’s back to work on Monday. I know we are going to be so exhausted with all the time changes catching back up to us. I hope this is the best trip. I know it’s not as extravagant as the places most of you go, but this is a big deal for us. I’m hoping these long flights go well and I can start talking DH into going to places like Europe soon! The struggle I have with him and smoking is a lot. I just wish he’d quit.
On another note, we have a RCCL trip to Alaska booked for June 2025 for my parents 50th anniversary and he keeps saying he’s not going. It’ll be my parents, my 2 sisters and their spouses, me and DH. And he is giving me such a hard time about it. I don’t particularly want to go either, we are more going to tropical places kinda people, but it’s for my parents. I keep telling him once we get there, I’m sure we are going to love it, but he’s not buying it. If it was a 4-5 day cruise, he wouldn’t be this way, but since it’s a 7 day one, he’s just not having it. So we’ll see how this goes the closer it gets to June. I know several people that’s been on Alaskan cruises and they all loved it. We really just need to get out more, we basically only go to WDW a few times a year and maybe to orange beach or destin once a year. Sometimes we go on a 4 day cruise to Cozumel or the Bahamas.

I was on Oahu for a few days in May but not Aulani. We drove around the island just to look at the scenery. There are some pull off spots around the island where you can stop and get out and look at the views. We enjoyed that and it was free except for the one place we had to pay for parking. There are some family friendly "hikes" to see waterfalls. Two of the well known ones are Manoa Falls and Waimea Falls. Be aware that Waimea has an entrance fee (but has a paved path and you can swim at the waterfall). We had hoped to do a hike, but it rained pretty much all day every day we were there so we skipped it. Sounds like you got your reservation for the USS Arizona memorial at Pearl Harbor. Be aware that it is an extra cost if you want to tour the sub, battleship, and/or air museum. It is basically a whole day experience if you want to do all that (we were there morning until dinner time). The Polynesian Cultural Center is supposed to be good. And don't forget the Dole Plantation! It's free to walk the grounds and visit the big gift shop where they also sell food and Dole Whips. We did the train ride at Dole and it honestly isn't worth it unless you just want the train experience for your grandson. They also have a big maze but it was closed when we visited due to the rain. I hope you have a great trip!