I love credit cards so much!

[hsmamato2]

You have to have a chase UR card to log in to see any transfer partners,etc.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

The travel transfer partners are:
Air-British Air, Singapore Air, Virgin Atlantic, Flying Blue (KLM/Air France), Southwest, United and Korean Air.

Hotel-Marriott, Ritz-Carlton, IHG, World of Hyatt.

As far as the UR travel booking portal itself, you plug in specific things such as air, hotel, rental car, for a certain date/location. That is much like expedia (since I believe it is Chase's UA online travel agent) so unless you have examples, hard to be specific about the types of prices it will come up with. I know I saved a good 20% for one night at the DTW Westin for this June 19th but YMMV.

Prices do vary by date, time of year, how far out you are booking, etc. I can tell you I was able to book airfare for two on American plus 6 nights hotel for 100 k points and maybe $100, for spring break at Disneyland (Good Neighbor hotel). All taxes, fees, etc were included. I couldn't get the airfare as cheap by transferring points.

You can find pretty much everything on the UR portal. Disney hotels are available as well as tours, airfare, activities, etc.

 

[Albort]

Well if it makes you feel better @tink1970 I just made my own boneheaded mistake. As you can see in my signature line, we are doing ABD China next year. While looking at different options to get to Hong Kong I decided we should go for the Suites Class flights with the double bed on Singapore Air. DH and I each transferred some SPG, TY and MR points to my Krisflyer account. My mistake was not reading the T&Cs for Krisflyer. One is not allowed to pool points. So, technically, they can make me forfeit any points that DH transferred into my KF account. We have not booked yet, but do have a flight on hold. So, we proactively reached out to KF and explained that a mistake was made and are requesting that DH's MR points be sent back to his Amex MR account. We had to email them a statement of his MR activity and his credit card that earns MR points.

Technically, we should not have been able to transfer his MR points to my account either but we spoke to 2 MR agents who said we could and they did the transfer over the phone. So, now we are patiently waiting to see if KF will send back DH's points. Sigh. In the meantime, we are transferring his SPG points over to my SPG account and then I am transferring those to KF so that all points are coming from my account. Lesson learned, know the T&C for your credit card points AND the partner your are transferring to before you do anything.

I have confidence though that if we do manage to fly in the suites, the hassle, experience and obscene amount of points we are blowing on it will be worth it.

oh man, i heard SQ J class is one of the hardest availability to get. I was just reading up on it on reddit award travel subreddit and i guess the only A380 left flying to the US is the JFK-->FRA-->SIN route. It says that its best to redeem it all the way from JFK for the best availability. I hope you fly it though, its also one of my dreams to fly it, i just found out they fly the 777 now on the LAX-NRT-SIN route. hopefully they would be come out with J class on the 777 like Emirates does now.

As far as CSR and double dipping before PC..... what is the suggested timeline? as soon as AF hits use the new credit? what happens when you PC after that credit gets used? anyone know yet? And what product to PC to? I already have a CSP, so what do I drop it to? I want Dh to PC one of hs Freedoms into a Fr. Unlimited- do I wait till he drops the CSR,then do it? what's the best option?

I believe you have 30 days past when the annual fee hits. did u apply for the CSR after they changed the language for the travel credit? You should hit that as soon as it becomes available and cancel asap! I don't think anything happens. We don't know though, CSR came out last September, so none of us really knows how it works though since no one hit their year yet. Now what to PC to... if you already have a Freedom and you max out, you should get another Freedom. If not, id probably go for a Freedom Unlimited. Freedom Unlimited is also great for 1.5x though, if you really want to max out your UR earning power. Im not sure if you can go from an Freedom to Freedom Unlimited though. you can give that a shot.

 

[Lain]

Question: Do MileagePlus X transactions earn 5x on the Amex Platinum?

Recently, I've really gotten into using the MPX app to double or triple dip on United miles and UR/MR points. When charging to my Amex Platinum, all charges appear on the statement as MPX* followed by the merchant for which a gift card was purchased, and all of the transactions code as "Travel - Airline," regardless whether the merchant is Amazon, clothing, restaurant, etc.

I know Amex closed the MPX loophole that used to allow Platinum cardholders to select United as their airline for travel fee credit and then buy gift cards through the MPX app to trigger reimbursement. But since MPX still codes as "Travel - Airline," do MPX transactions earn 5x on the Platinum?

I've tried checking my statements and Membership Rewards details, but Amex has a funny way of posting points and none of my more recent transactions with MPX have posted yet. I'd appreciate any experiences with this setup.

 

[hsmamato2]

oh man, i heard SQ J class is one of the hardest availability to get. I was just reading up on it on reddit award travel subreddit and i guess the only A380 left flying to the US is the JFK-->FRA-->SIN route. It says that its best to redeem it all the way from JFK for the best availability. I hope you fly it though, its also one of my dreams to fly it, i just found out they fly the 777 now on the LAX-NRT-SIN route. hopefully they would be come out with J class on the 777 like Emirates does now.



I believe you have 30 days past when the annual fee hits. did u apply for the CSR after they changed the language for the travel credit? You should hit that as soon as it becomes available and cancel asap! I don't think anything happens. We don't know though, CSR came out last September, so none of us really knows how it works though since no one hit their year yet. Now what to PC to... if you already have a Freedom and you max out, you should get another Freedom. If not, id probably go for a Freedom Unlimited. Freedom Unlimited is also great for 1.5x though, if you really want to max out your UR earning power. Im not sure if you can go from an Freedom to Freedom Unlimited though. you can give that a shot.

What about the changed language? I missed that one- we got one card in Late Npv.- the other in Jan.- DH has 2 freedoms already,I have one,we rarely spend enough to max out the 5x on 3 of them (not churning persay,just using wisely) I guess I'm wondering if the csr can be PC to the FU..... or I still haven't decided if I want the CSR longer, but I think my CSP is valuable still.....still thinking about it though. I'll just have to wait and read reports I guess

 

[OhanaCuz]

How did I not notice there's a section that's talking about credit cards??

As far as having a card for each category, I am with you. I can't stand only earning 1x but some expenses (like medical), there just isn't another option. Just realized I really should maybe apply for a 2x earning card for all expenses once I am at 5/24 with Chase or just get a CFU.

That's what I've been doing (CFU). I love how easy Chase makes it to move points from the CFU to the CSR.

I had some HUGE unexpected expenses and it killed me getting 1% on them. I've been surprised how much non-category spend I have for the CFU.

 

[calypso726]

oh man, i heard SQ J class is one of the hardest availability to get. I was just reading up on it on reddit award travel subreddit and i guess the only A380 left flying to the US is the JFK-->FRA-->SIN route. It says that its best to redeem it all the way from JFK for the best availability. I hope you fly it though, its also one of my dreams to fly it, i just found out they fly the 777 now on the LAX-NRT-SIN route. hopefully they would be come out with J class on the 777 like Emirates does now.

Yup. The A380 route from the west coast is no longer an option so if I want the suites it's gotta be out of JFK. That's why we are going completely out of the way to fly it. There are a dozen ways for me to get to JFK from Florida so I will worry about that later. It would be JFK-FRA-SIN-HKG and I'm not mucking about and wait listing a saver award that may never come through or come through with not enough time for me to get transferred points over to them.

The standard award is 250,000 Krisflyer miles per person one way Most of the points are coming out of the SPG accounts so that gets me an additional 5,000 for every 20,000 SPG points I use. With the uncertainty of what may happen to the SPG card and points due to the Marriott merger, I would rather drain our bank of SPG points for something like this than wake up tomorrow and discover I can only use my SPG points for hotel stays all of a sudden. YOLO

I shouldn't have a hard time figuring the best way to get from Hong Kong to Tokyo. Next on the list is how do I get back home from Tokyo. I'm thinking JAL may be my best direct option. I know you have experience flying to Asia so any advice is welcome

 

[tink1970]

JAL is part of OneWorld, which should benefit you! While I've never flown JAL, my brother has when he was living in Japan and enjoyed it. Their JAL suites (first class) look pretty nice-not Emirates/Singapore nice but I'm sure it will be quite comfortable I also remember Bubba (not his real name but he hates it so...) being impressed with their service. From what I can tell, JAL flies directly from Narita or Huneda to JFK. If you want to downgrade to business class then you can fly to DFW or JFK. Then, of course, a hop, skip and jump to Miami.

 

[crazymomof4]

Yay! instant approval for 2 SW cc's! Lots of free flying coming my way! Thanks to all here who helped me through the process!

 

[Lain]

Does anyone have experience with CSR's price protection benefit?

I filed a price protection claim for a price drop on an iPad mini over a month ago. About a week after I filed the claim, eclaimsline requested additional documents which I provided. I followed up with them almost two weeks ago and they told me my claim was in final review, but today the claim still remains pending. To add to all that, Best Buy has a sale this week on the iPad for an even lower price than the one on my claim. I emailed eclaimsline about that, but I'm thinking of just submitting a new claim since I'm still within 90 days of my purchase.

Any thoughts? Please tell me it shouldn't be this hard to use a benefit!

 

[havaneselover]

Does anyone have experience with CSR's price protection benefit?

I filed a price protection claim for a price drop on an iPad mini over a month ago. About a week after I filed the claim, eclaimsline requested additional documents which I provided. I followed up with them almost two weeks ago and they told me my claim was in final review, but today the claim still remains pending. To add to all that, Best Buy has a sale this week on the iPad for an even lower price than the one on my claim. I emailed eclaimsline about that, but I'm thinking of just submitting a new claim since I'm still within 90 days of my purchase.

Any thoughts? Please tell me it shouldn't be this hard to use a benefit!

Not for csr but for cf. It was for a coach purse. Had a check very quickly. I was very impressed.

 

[danjoealexis3006]

What do you do when you have a bunch of points on a Southwest Card and they change the flights so there is no nonstop anymore from your area. We fly to Disney every year non stop but now the flights are 5 or 6 hours and more money to fly. What can we do with all these points?

 

[peel]

Yay! instant approval for 2 SW cc's! Lots of free flying coming my way! Thanks to all hear who helped me through the process!

Congratulations!

 

[LynnTH]

What do you do when you have a bunch of points on a Southwest Card and they change the flights so there is no nonstop anymore from your area. We fly to Disney every year non stop but now the flights are 5 or 6 hours and more money to fly. What can we do with all these points?

We fly from MSP and very rarely have Non Stop flights from here. I would rather have to make a stop and not pay for flights then have to dish out about $1500-$2000 for the 4 of us to fly. Kids are older now (18 and 16) but have always been great about connecting flights. To us it just normal now as we only fly SW and have not paid for airfare for years. (Thanks to sign up bonuses)

 

[elgerber]

We fly from MSP and very rarely have Non Stop flights from here. I would rather have to make a stop and not pay for flights then have to dish out about $1500-$2000 for the 4 of us to fly. Kids are older now (18 and 16) but have always been great about connecting flights. To us it just normal now as we only fly SW and have not paid for airfare for years. (Thanks to sign up bonuses)

This is us also! I have seen one non-stop to Orlando from MSP in all my years. I just know we have to connect, but again, it's free so it's worth it for us.

 

[ski_mom]

Does anyone have experience with CSR's price protection benefit?

I filed a price protection claim for a price drop on an iPad mini over a month ago. About a week after I filed the claim, eclaimsline requested additional documents which I provided. I followed up with them almost two weeks ago and they told me my claim was in final review, but today the claim still remains pending. To add to all that, Best Buy has a sale this week on the iPad for an even lower price than the one on my claim. I emailed eclaimsline about that, but I'm thinking of just submitting a new claim since I'm still within 90 days of my purchase.

Any thoughts? Please tell me it shouldn't be this hard to use a benefit!

I've filed for quite a few price protection claims since I've had my CSR. I consider it a great benefit.

That being said, I never had an issue until the last set of claims that I filed. We purchased a new appliance set from Best Buy a few weeks ago. The following weekend, I found some of the items cheaper online (not through Best Buy, but another competitor). With all my claims, I've just uploaded a copy of the original receipt and the online ad showing a cheaper price and I've had the check quickly.

This time, I'm getting asked for a copy of my credit card statement showing the last 4 digits of the card number along with the purchase in question. The statement with the purchase hasn't been generated yet, so I'm still waiting on that. They are also asking for proof that it's the same item. The receipt from Best Buy as well of the online ad both clearly show the manufacturer number and they are the same.

I'm hoping that this isn't something that's changed in their process, because I've had great luck with it. I don't mind sending in the additional documentation, but it's just more time consuming.

I think in your case, I might be tempted to call the support line and ask about submitting a new claim with the lower price match offer. Since it's still within the 90 days, I'm sure it would be fine, but sometimes it gets more complicated to explain and might be easier to do over the phone. I'd be afraid that they would finally pay the first claim and that would then mess up the better price.

 

[peel]

OH. NO. I just saw on Reddit that Visa isn't allowing Plastiq to process mortgage payments anymore. I have no idea how I'm going to meet the CIP min spend now, unless I start MSing, which I really don't want to do.

Gift cards. Lots of gift cards.

 

[ejcraft]

so I was all set to get the southwest visa in Oct and Nov, so I had the companion pass starting in January or February, thus the rest of 2018 and all of 2019, but with this 60,000 points I'm tempted to go ahead and do it now. Quick question, do I apply for the personnel first then the business or the other way around, I just got the CSR, so am only at 2/24, and they had to shuffle credit lines to give me that card, so I'm guessing they would do that again. just not sure which way to apply first, any thought people?

 

[Lain]

OH. NO. I just saw on Reddit that Visa isn't allowing Plastiq to process mortgage payments anymore. I have no idea how I'm going to meet the CIP min spend now, unless I start MSing, which I really don't want to do.

Gift cards. Lots of gift cards.

I've actually wondered about some of the kinds of payments that Plastiq allows you to make with a credit card. Using Plastiq to pay your mortgage (or car loans) essentially reduces a secured debt in exchange for the same amount plus a fee in unsecured debt on your credit card. Similarly, using Plastiq to pay your student loan replaces an amount of nondischargeable debt (in bankruptcy) with potentially dischargeable credit card debt. In both cases, it's really to your benefit changing the character of your debt to unsecured debt on a credit card, and Visa could end up holding a lot of bad debt that they have no collateral for and will have to argue should be nondischargeable in the event of collections or a cardholder's bankruptcy.

Edit: clarity

 

[Lain]

I've filed for quite a few price protection claims since I've had my CSR. I consider it a great benefit.

That being said, I never had an issue until the last set of claims that I filed. We purchased a new appliance set from Best Buy a few weeks ago. The following weekend, I found some of the items cheaper online (not through Best Buy, but another competitor). With all my claims, I've just uploaded a copy of the original receipt and the online ad showing a cheaper price and I've had the check quickly.

This time, I'm getting asked for a copy of my credit card statement showing the last 4 digits of the card number along with the purchase in question. The statement with the purchase hasn't been generated yet, so I'm still waiting on that. They are also asking for proof that it's the same item. The receipt from Best Buy as well of the online ad both clearly show the manufacturer number and they are the same.

I'm hoping that this isn't something that's changed in their process, because I've had great luck with it. I don't mind sending in the additional documentation, but it's just more time consuming.

I think in your case, I might be tempted to call the support line and ask about submitting a new claim with the lower price match offer. Since it's still within the 90 days, I'm sure it would be fine, but sometimes it gets more complicated to explain and might be easier to do over the phone. I'd be afraid that they would finally pay the first claim and that would then mess up the better price.

Thanks @ski_mom. I did call Card Benefit Services this morning because I was worried they'd hurry up and settle my claim for the lower amount. The rep told me to submit screenshots of the new lower price, updated the amount in the meantime on her end, and told me she'd flag the claims manager to contact me in 24-48 hours. When I tried to submit the screenshots, my claim page didn't have that option (possibly because it's in final review), so I had to email the screenshots.

When I submitted my original claim back in May, they did require me to submit a copy of my credit card statement. I submitted a redacted PDF copy of the statement downloaded from my Chase account. A week later, one of the additional documents they asked me to submit was my credit card statement showing the purchase. By then, I had received the actual statement in the mail, scanned it, and redacted pretty much everything but the purchase line, my card number and personal info. There's a lot of info on the statement that's not relevant to the claim! It was really inconvenient.

Hopefully this resolves in the next few days.