I love credit cards so much!

[gottalovepluto]

Less than 3 hours later I heard back from Chase and they made the UR adjustment for the points they mistakenly deducted from my account. Said it would take a month to show up but they are already in my account and available for use. That's customer service! -well, it was their mess up, but still

 

[gottalovepluto]

Chase Disney referral question: I have the no fee Disney card as does my family member, can I refer this family member (same last name, same mailing address but I don't think that matters?) to the Chase Disney card and receive the referral if they sign up for premier version even though I have the no-fee version? (Never done the Disney referral before.)

 

[gottalovepluto]

You could get the Barclaycard Arrival Plus. The 50,000 bonus points plus the $3,000 MS would get you a $560 statement credit towards the hotel cost.

You have sent my head spinning! In a good way! I've been holding back on any new CC applications until I got under 5/24 which I did a couple months ago but I just hadn't really started considering the possibilities- there are so many!! I have a lot of research to do on this thread. I'm thinking I pick up one last Chase card that falls under 5/24 then I can start hitting some of the big bonus cards like Barclaycard Arrival Plus and the Chase cards that don't come under 5/24... This is so exciting, where to next?

 

[Ngwira]

Want to pull the trigger on the Amex Blue for business and the Hyatt card but worried about meeting minimum spend. I find myself spending more money when I know I have a minimum spend to meet.

Used the Amex FHR feature in Las Vegas and the process was so confusing when it came time to pay the bill. Also checked out the centurion lounge in LAS and while nice, not worth the annual fee unless you fly frequently(we do not). To add insult to injury, I had to pay $50 for my kid since now only 3 people are free.
Will be canceling my platinum card come November.

 

[ctinct]

No specific SW advice but when/if you do decide to apply again print each page to a pdf or screenshot it so you can look back and know exactly what you did. It helps me keep track of everything I apply for.

Oh, thank you, excellent advice! I do take screenshots whenever I pay a bill or make a reservation somewhere; should have thought to do this. Live and learn, I guess. (But I'm still a little upset with myself.)

 

[jhoannam]

You and your husband can do 2-Player mode, so you each can apply for the same cards if there's a good bonus, or strategically decide one of you will apply for one card and the other apply for something else or not (for example, to stay under 5/24).

In the short term, while you and your husband are still under 5/24, I'd suggest focusing on Chase cards that will earn you the most UR points and give you the best redemption value because you can use those points for flights or a stay at Aulani (or any number of other accommodations in Hawaii).

You can go for another CSP, if you don't have two already, which will give you another 50,000 UR points.

The next obvious choice is the Chase Sapphire Reserve (CSR), which could earn you 50,000 UR points after $4,000 spend/3 months (or double that if both of you apply), and stretches the value of all your UR points by giving you 50% more value in travel redemption through the UR portal.

When you’ve earned the bonuses from the Sapphire cards, you can product change them to more Freedoms, since you’ve been maxing out the categories; or to a Freedom Unlimited, which you can use for general, non-bonus category spend to earn 1.5x UR points for everything else – which then stretches to 2.25x UR points when you transfer the points and redeem them through a CSR. Obviously, one of you should keep the CSR. If you’re product changing within one year, you may first need to change to a no-fee Sapphire, then to the CF/CFU.

Longer term, you may want to look at an airline card that will earn you miles to fly to Hawaii. I don’t know where you’re based, so I can’t give you specific suggestions about what airline services your local airport with routes to Hawaii. But Southwest doesn’t fly to Hawaii, so you’ll need something else.

I didn't even think to get a second Freedom. So maybe I'll have DH get the CSR, then I'll get the CSP, PC DH's CSP to a freedom. And see where that gets us... this should get us through the year.
Also, do you close CC accounts?
I've had my Freedom for a few years, can I close it and reapply for the new bonus?

We live in Oklahoma, we sometimes drive to Dallas to fly since that can save us some money (4 people). We mostly fly SW, but lately AA has had better pricing.

 

[AmyAnne]

Avila Lighthouse Suites. We want 2 queens with an oceanview but apparently that's their most popular room so they don't let Expedia sell it. All King views and 1 2 queen room with a pool view just not the same to us but depending how desperate we are to get away in a couple months we might take it anyway! (2 rooms get pricy there, but it's a beautiful property if anyone is looking for a nice, family friendly place to stay in Avila!)

I totally get it - AKL with a savanna view is our favorite hotel. We once stayed there without a savanna view and it was totally not the same - so we either get a savanna view or stay somewhere else.

 

[Lain]

I didn't even think to get a second Freedom. So maybe I'll have DH get the CSR, then I'll get the CSP, PC DH's CSP to a freedom. And see where that gets us... this should get us through the year.
Also, do you close CC accounts?
I've had my Freedom for a few years, can I close it and reapply for the new bonus?

We live in Oklahoma, we sometimes drive to Dallas to fly since that can save us some money (4 people). We mostly fly SW, but lately AA has had better pricing.

If it's a no-fee card (and I have two that are nearly 20 years old, product changed a few times), I never close it and I'll buy a small amount of Amazon credit on it a few times a year to keep it active so the credit card issuer doesn't close it.

You'll probably find a lot of people, especially on the points and miles blogosphere and the churning subreddit, think that the Freedom is a fantastic card to have in your wallet -- especially when the 5% category is something you can easily max out on -- but the Freedom is not a good card to apply for because its signup bonus (15,000 UR points) isn't compelling enough to waste a 5/24 slot on when the CSP and CSR offer 50,000 UR bonus points, the CIP offers 80,000 UR points, the SW cards currently each offer 60,000 miles, the United MPE card currently has a 50,000 miles public offer and 70,000 miles targeted, etc. So if you're under 5/24, it's recommended that you apply for the Chase cards that are affected by the 5/24 rule and product change one of the Chase Sapphire cards (you cannot with co-branded cards) to a no-fee Freedom/Freedom Unlimited when you're done with hitting the bonus and no longer want the benefits.

So in your case, applying for the Freedom will probably take a 5/24 slot away from applying for your own CSR. Alternatively, when you're done with the CSP, you could apply for your own CSR, then product change your CSP>Sapphire>Freedom. If I'm following you right, you'll then have 3 Freedoms. If that's too many, you can product change one of your CSPs to a Freedom Unlimited.

Anyway, I'll add more thoughts on flying to Hawaii soon. My wife has family in Hawaii so we try to make a trip every year.

 

[AmyAnne]

it's recommended that you apply for the Chase cards that are affected by the 5/24 rule and product change one of the Chase Sapphire cards (you cannot with co-branded cards)

So can you product change any of the co-branded cards to anything? I have the United card but will not keep it past the first year. Just got it this spring and hadn't thought about the fact (probably) that it will just have to be cancelled.

 

[Lain]

So can you product change any of the co-branded cards to anything? I have the United card but will not keep it past the first year. Just got it this spring and hadn't thought about the fact (probably) that it will just have to be cancelled.

You can't product change a co-branded card like United to one of the Chase Sapphire or Freedom cards. United does have a no-fee MileagePlus card that you can product change the MPE to... Not sure about SW.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

CSP is a Visa, and Plastiq is under new guidelines from Visa not to allow use of its cards to pay mortgages. However, it's all very YMMV right now. Payments for mortgages to smaller lenders seem to be still going through, and prescheduled payments seem to be unaffected as long as there aren't any changes to them. Chase is a big institutional lender, so it might be blocked. Only way to know for sure is to try and see if you can submit payment or else get an error screen. If you're successful, the payment will very likely code as only 1x. Good luck!

I'd forgotten about that since I don't use Plastiq. I tried it anyway, no error screen. We'll see.

ETA Received email saying transaction successful, and it now shows as pending on my Chase CC account

 

[CyndiLouWho]

So now I met spend on CSP, I'm thinking thinking of going for the SW cards. Hmmmm

 

[wendow]

Anyway, I'll add more thoughts on flying to Hawaii soon. My wife has family in Hawaii so we try to make a trip every year.

Love to hear your thoughts whenever you get a chance. I'd like to get our family of 6 to Hawaii but I really am not sure how. We typically fly SW but since that won't work for Hawaii, I'm kinda clueless.

 

[Lain]

I totally get it - AKL with a savanna view is our favorite hotel. We once stayed there without a savanna view and it was totally not the same - so we either get a savanna view or stay somewhere else.

My wife is totally on board with you. We stayed in an Arusha savanna view right next to the watering hole, and my wife would rather not go back to WDW than not stay in a room with that view again.

 

[wendow]

I applied for the SW premier and got the 30 days message. What to do? I am under 5/24 and haven't received the bonus on a premier since March 2015.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Chase Disney referral question: I have the no fee Disney card as does my family member, can I refer this family member (same last name, same mailing address but I don't think that matters?) to the Chase Disney card and receive the referral if they sign up for premier version even though I have the no-fee version? (Never done the Disney referral before.)

No. There are no referrals for the Premier card to my knowledge. AND if there were referrals for Premier you'd have to have that card to refer.

 

[gottalovepluto]

No. There are no referrals for the Premier card to my knowledge. AND if there were referrals for Premier you'd have to have that card to refer.

Darn! C'est la vie I guess!

 

[gottalovepluto]

I applied for the SW premier and got the 30 days message. What to do? I am under 5/24 and haven't received the bonus on a premier since March 2015.

Bummer! Personally, I'd call reconciliation. You're under 5/24 which is the main hurdle imho & I'm assuming you have a halfway decent credit rating. It might be something as minute as Chase needs to verify your identity. You could wait it out if that's more your style. (It could also be a case of Chase needs to redistribute your credit lines in order to account for the new card.)

 

[Dugette]

I applied for the SW premier and got the 30 days message. What to do? I am under 5/24 and haven't received the bonus on a premier since March 2015.

Not sure if you have any other Chase cards currently, but if you do, you can log in to your account online and see if the new card shows up in the list. DH and I both applied for the Chase Hyatt recently and got the 30 day notice. Logged into the Chase website maybe 2 hours later (if even that) and our new Hyatt accounts were already there. So, not 30 days of waiting at all! Good luck!

 

[wendow]

Not sure if you have any other Chase cards currently, but if you do, you can log in to your account online and see if the new card shows up in the list. DH and I both applied for the Chase Hyatt recently and got the 30 day notice. Logged into the Chase website maybe 2 hours later (if even that) and our new Hyatt accounts were already there. So, not 30 days of waiting at all! Good luck!

Bummer! Personally, I'd call reconciliation. You're under 5/24 which is the main hurdle imho & I'm assuming you have a halfway decent credit rating. It might be something as minute as Chase needs to verify your identity. You could wait it out if that's more your style. (It could also be a case of Chase needs to redistribute your credit lines in order to account for the new card.)

I am under 5/24...However, I just got the CIP in April 2017. My credit score is over 800. I am guessing the issue is that I have too much credit on other cards that needs to be moved around...I have CIP, CSR and CSP. And an AU on a CF. I'd like to let the app ride and not have to call but I will if it betters my chances of approval.