I love credit cards so much! v5.0 - 2022 (see first page for add'l details)

[FreeDiningFanatic]

I need your expert help with SW LUV Vouchers. So back in January, we volunteered to take a later flight coming back from cruise. It was Me, DS23 and DD20. We each got the following vouchers.
1-$500
1-$300
1-$200
1-$121
So, each of us has $1121 to use. I understand you can use these for anyone and they are not tied to your name.

We have a cruise in December and the flights will come out in June. We need flights for 4. But we should also have DH's Companion Pass shortly, so only need to book for 3. I thought you could only use 3 vouchers per transaction. So, does that mean I would need to book everyone separately or is there a way to book us all together and still use the vouchers that way. ( I would book one -way flights).

I just want to be prepared for when the flights come out and hopefully, know what I am doing. Used points tons of times, Never used vouchers.

For transparency, I don't know the actual answer to your question. But, I just wanted to share a couple ways I've been burned a bit by the LUV vouchers:

1. "If applied in conjunction with any other accepted form(s) of payment, the earliest expiration date of all payments applies." So if you apply any other form of payment with the LUV voucher, everything will expire at the earliest date. Be careful with this.
2. "Once the voucher is applied to a reservation, it can only be used by the ticketed Passenger." With Southwest canceling so much and making so many changes, it just seems like we've applied a "generic" luv voucher to a specific passenger, only to have them cancel or change the flight, and then you are stuck with the LUV voucher assigned to that individual.

You are super fortunate to have so many LUV vouchers to use. It's a good problem to have. And I do appreciate that SW seems like they try to make things right, most of the time, so I'm not complaining. Just wanted you to be smarter than I have been with LUV vouchers.

 

[LynnTH]

For transparency, I don't know the actual answer to your question. But, I just wanted to share a couple ways I've been burned a bit by the LUV vouchers:

1. "If applied in conjunction with any other accepted form(s) of payment, the earliest expiration date of all payments applies." So if you apply any other form of payment with the LUV voucher, everything will expire at the earliest date. Be careful with this.
2. "Once the voucher is applied to a reservation, it can only be used by the ticketed Passenger." With Southwest canceling so much and making so many changes, it just seems like we've applied a "generic" luv voucher to a specific passenger, only to have them cancel or change the flight, and then you are stuck with the LUV voucher assigned to that individual.

You are super fortunate to have so many LUV vouchers to use. It's a good problem to have. And I do appreciate that SW seems like they try to make things right, most of the time, so I'm not complaining. Just wanted you to be smarter than I have been with LUV vouchers.

Thanks. All the vouchers will expire at the same time (January 2023). I did know that once a voucher was applied to a reservation that it can only be used by that person. That is not a problem as it is all my family.

Just will have to see how much the flights cost and then try to figure out the best way to use them. But seems like I may have to book everyone separately , then the LUV vouchers would be associated with that person.

 

[Pooh2]

Jetblue question:
We've had a jetblue card for about 5 years and have not used it in over 2 years.
Is it worth it to pay the annual fee for the 5,000 points?
Or should we cancel and reapply down the road when we will use the airline again?
Would we be eligible to get the bonus again?

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

I mentioned I would report back on submitting the Abbott eMed COVID tests to insurance. Our program allowed $12 reimbursement per test. The cost per test comes out to be $30, less the $12= $18 per test. I am satisfied with that.

 

[Sheree]

Chiming in late as I'm still getting caught up, but we did as well. We were at WDW for the Spring Surprise weekend and had a horrible experience on the way home. I'm so bummed about Southwest. They used to be a great airline, but they have really taken a nose dive the past few months with flight cancellations, flight changes, the elimination of any long haul flights, and not-so-great flight crews. We usually love SW flight attendants, but we had two of the worst crews ever both going and on our return.

We flew back on Monday and the best we could do was a two stopper. On the second leg we were supposed to stay on the plane, but after arriving we were informed that we had to deplane as we didn't have a pilot. They were going to try to find one for us. We were supposed to take off at 10 pm and didn't take off until after 1 am. We didn't arrive home until 2:40 am (i.e 5:40 am florida time). It was absolutely miserable sitting in the gate area without much information. All these multi-stop flights just increase the likelihood of something going wrong. I have a companion pass but even with that I think I'm going to be looking at other airlines until they can figure it out. So disappointing.

I totally agree. Do they even have any nonstops that go farther than a couple hours? They used to have multiple nonstops from the Bay Area to the East Coast, but now there is nothing. The only flights we can get nonstop now are to Hawaii (because they can't stop halfway, LOL). I have a companion pass, but I probably won't be using it much going to Orlando--just Hawaii and west coast stops.

I'm east coast and this was PHL to Nashville. a short flight. Even FLL isn't non stp anymore

very frustrating
hope I can find cheaper air thru another airline and I'll pay for it. right now chase travel portal not working so I'll use the venture x.

 

[DaveL]

SW Extended my A-List until June 30th. Now I don't feel as bad about them moving both my flights. LOL.

 

[GZanta77]

Jetblue question:
We've had a jetblue card for about 5 years and have not used it in over 2 years.
Is it worth it to pay the annual fee for the 5,000 points?
Or should we cancel and reapply down the road when we will use the airline again?
Would we be eligible to get the bonus again?

So the 5k points is worth ~$70 so that alone does not justify the annual fee. However, if you are planning to redeem JetBlue miles over the coming year - don't forget the 10% miles rebate and the free checked bags benefit.

Otherwise, you can certainly cancel and reapply down the road BUT, I have seen mixed reports on the success of subsequent applications. There may be an unwritten rule that you have to wait 2 years after canceling a card before getting the same card again.

 

[KPK02090]

My mother (P3) is willing to get a card for me to use for my 13k June spend (since I'm in pop-up jail - and I plan to use points to go somewhere with her and my sisters). It has to be Amex or MasterCard.
I would like Marriott points. So, is there anyway for her to get a Marriott Biz, put me as an employee, and somehow get the points into my Marriott account? The other option is an Amex Gold Biz, with me as an employee, but the AF on the Marriott card is definitely better.
what issues am I overlooking with these plans?

 

[calypso726]

I asked a question on Reddit about transferring MRs to Marriott and I got a comment that it's a bad use of MRs. They scare me on Reddit so I didn't follow up. I thought I would ask opinions here on transferring MRs to Marriott? If you don't transfer them, what do you do with them?
I also got a load of downvotes for posting my question in the wrong place - ooops.

Other than topping off an award that would get me outsized value at some aspirational property, I don't see myself transferring points to Marriott. I prefer to use MRs to transfer to airlines for international travel, especially when they offer extra bonus points for doing so. Additionally, I will use them to pay for a business or first class flight on occasion because I will get 35% of my points back since I hold a business Plat card.

Bottom line is there is a big gap between the value of MR points and the value of Marriott points. This is even more true after the recent devaluation of BonBlah. Now, with that said, free is free and do what works best for you. Who cares what anyone else thinks

 

[hsmamato2]

Jetblue question:
We've had a jetblue card for about 5 years and have not used it in over 2 years.
Is it worth it to pay the annual fee for the 5,000 points?
Or should we cancel and reapply down the road when we will use the airline again?
Would we be eligible to get the bonus again?

I believe Jetblue has a no fee version you could product change to? that's what I did a few years back

 

[KPK02090]

I just applied for my mother (with her blessing) for a Amex Marriott Biz. And I got this message:

"To process your application we need some additional information about you, and if applicable, the other business owners of your company. Please call Customer Care at"

Ugh! She will kill me if she has to call, but won't mind if I do. Can I just call? I put 2 in the number of employees box because I was going to get an employee card. Was this a mistake? Anyone ever get this message? What should I expect the call to be like??
Any help or insight is appreciated.

Edit to add: I called. They said they didn't need any information, but that it would take 24 hours to get a decision.

 

[becauseimnew]

I just applied for my mother (with her blessing) for a Amex Marriott Biz. And I got this message:

"To process your application we need some additional information about you, and if applicable, the other business owners of your company. Please call Customer Care at"

Ugh! She will kill me if she has to call, but won't mind if I do. Can I just call? I put 2 in the number of employees box because I was going to get an employee card. Was this a mistake? Anyone ever get this message? What should I expect the call to be like??
Any help or insight is appreciated.

Edit to add: I called. They said they didn't need any information, but that it would take 24 hours to get a decision.

I would call and pretend to be her with her permission.
And she can transfer up to 100,000 points to you a year.

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

I just applied for my mother (with her blessing) for a Amex Marriott Biz. And I got this message:

"To process your application we need some additional information about you, and if applicable, the other business owners of your company. Please call Customer Care at"

Ugh! She will kill me if she has to call, but won't mind if I do. Can I just call? I put 2 in the number of employees box because I was going to get an employee card. Was this a mistake? Anyone ever get this message? What should I expect the call to be like??
Any help or insight is appreciated.

Edit to add: I called. They said they didn't need any information, but that it would take 24 hours to get a decision.

Hubby just got that on a new biz app for a newly established biz, filed with an EIN. He called and they asked him confirmatory questions, like SSN, address, etc. But they did immediately approve it while he was on the phone.

So, I'm not sure what the 24 hours means then. Please report back on how it turns out.

 

[KPK02090]

Hubby just got that on a new biz app for a newly established biz, filed with an EIN. He called and they asked him confirmatory questions, like SSN, address, etc. But they did immediately approve it while he was on the phone.

So, I'm not sure what the 24 hours means then. Please report back on how it turns out.

I will. I was really surprised it wasn’t an instant approval. She’s 0/24. Has excellent credit. When I did card match she was getting the high Amex offers - 150k platinum, 90k gold. So I thought this would be automatic.

 

[EilonwyWanderer]

Okay question about credit cards:

Right now there's a promo on Delta Skymiles Platinum that with a new application and approval you get 90k skymiles points when you spend 3k in the first 3 months. They have a high fee ($250 a year) but also I think give a companion pass a year which is nice since we do plan on traveling at least once a year in the future. I like the draw of the 90k points since we're traveling in December and with that and my Delta points I can probably swing everyone's tickets.

However.

I already have a Delta Skymiles Gold card. Upgrading to Platinum is an option but only give 20k bonus skymiles, so that doesn't seem worth it. I talked to the people doing chat today and they said the 90k is just an introductory offer so what I could do is just apply and get a platinum card that has nothing to do with my Skymiles Gold card. Which seems weird?

Would it be worth it to get that second Amex card? Should I get the platinum and close the gold? Just upgrade the gold? I don't have enough of a mind for this!

 

[EACarlson]

Okay question about credit cards:

Right now there's a promo on Delta Skymiles Platinum that with a new application and approval you get 90k skymiles points when you spend 3k in the first 3 months. They have a high fee ($250 a year) but also I think give a companion pass a year which is nice since we do plan on traveling at least once a year in the future. I like the draw of the 90k points since we're traveling in December and with that and my Delta points I can probably swing everyone's tickets.

However.

I already have a Delta Skymiles Gold card. Upgrading to Platinum is an option but only give 20k bonus skymiles, so that doesn't seem worth it. I talked to the people doing chat today and they said the 90k is just an introductory offer so what I could do is just apply and get a platinum card that has nothing to do with my Skymiles Gold card. Which seems weird?

Would it be worth it to get that second Amex card? Should I get the platinum and close the gold? Just upgrade the gold? I don't have enough of a mind for this!

Yes you can hold two Skymiles AMEX at one time. I would agree that the gold is redundant when you get the platinum. I would app for the Platinum and then close the Gold. If you upgrade you then lose the ability to get a SUB on the Platinum in the future. If you're already paying for the Gold then you're looking at $150 additional AF for the annual companion cert and the ability to get into SkyClubs. If you're going to use the companion certs the Platinum over the Gold is a no brainer.

 

[tink1970]

Okay question about credit cards:

Right now there's a promo on Delta Skymiles Platinum that with a new application and approval you get 90k skymiles points when you spend 3k in the first 3 months. They have a high fee ($250 a year) but also I think give a companion pass a year which is nice since we do plan on traveling at least once a year in the future. I like the draw of the 90k points since we're traveling in December and with that and my Delta points I can probably swing everyone's tickets.

However.

I already have a Delta Skymiles Gold card. Upgrading to Platinum is an option but only give 20k bonus skymiles, so that doesn't seem worth it. I talked to the people doing chat today and they said the 90k is just an introductory offer so what I could do is just apply and get a platinum card that has nothing to do with my Skymiles Gold card. Which seems weird?

Would it be worth it to get that second Amex card? Should I get the platinum and close the gold? Just upgrade the gold? I don't have enough of a mind for this!

They are two different products so you can hold both IF you don't already have 5 American Express credit cards (not charge cards, which are the gold/plat personal, the green/gold/plat business). The sign up bonus is a solid one, however, I must warn you that it's NOT a companion pass that's part of the card's perks...it's a companion certificate which can only be used on certain fares which some find restrictive and difficult to use. Honestly, I would consider whether you consider the $250 AF worth it for the opportunity to earn the 90K sign up bonus with the $3000 spend and then, if you can use the companion certificate, view that as icing on the cake.

 

[elgerber]

They are two different products so you can hold both IF you don't already have 5 American Express credit cards (not charge cards, which are the gold/plat personal, the green/gold/plat business). The sign up bonus is a solid one, however, I must warn you that it's NOT a companion pass that's part of the card's perks...it's a companion certificate which can only be used on certain fares which some find restrictive and difficult to use. Honestly, I would consider whether you consider the $250 AF worth it for the opportunity to earn the 90K sign up bonus with the $3000 spend and then, if you can use the companion certificate, view that as icing on the cake.

I never use my companion certs, because of the pandemic, I am sitting on three. But we book with miles and you can't pay for flight with miles or even gift cards and use the certificate. So mine goes to waste. I do not pay that fee repeatedly though, they have given me upgrade offers at least twice.

DD was instantly approved for the 60k Cap One Venture today, so that she can fly to Portland with friends. I will have to help her with the spend, no way she can spend $3000 in three months, but my prop taxes are due, so that will knock out at least half, with what's left to pay for first half taxes.

 

[tink1970]

I never use my companion certs, because of the pandemic, I am sitting on three. But we book with miles and you can't pay for flight with miles or even gift cards and use the certificate. So mine goes to waste. I do not pay that fee repeatedly though, they have given me upgrade offers at least twice.

DD was instantly approved for the 60k Cap One Venture today, so that she can fly to Portland with friends. I will have to help her with the spend, no way she can spend $3000 in three months, but my prop taxes are due, so that will knock out at least half, with what's left to pay for first half taxes.

For better or worse, with ill parents (and then 2 funerals within 10 days in different part of the country), DH and I are down to 1 after having about 5. I definitely don't consider them in the keep or cancel pro/con list.

Congrats on DD's C1 card! I'm always excited to get a new card when not fun bills start rolling in-takes the sting out a bit.

 

[mgarbowski]

Hi folks. Long time no post (for me on this thread).
Is there a no-fee product change option on the Amex Green card? I don't think so, but would appreciate the board's wisdom. Here is the background. I have Amex Schwab Plat, Gold, and Green, plus various other Amex and non-Amex cards. The green is my absolute oldest credit card for credit history purposes (mid-1980s). It was a Green Card way back when, then a Gold, then a Plat, all back when you had to graduate like that. A couple years ago I added a Schwab Plat and downgraded the original regular Plat to the Green.

I do not get sufficient value from the Green to justify keeping it, but I would rather not lose the history on my credit report. The next oldest cards are 1989, 1990, and then a big jump to 2005. Knowledge or creative ideas are appreciated. Maybe the 1989 and 1990 cards are enough. They are fee free and not going anywhere.