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

[leeniewdw]

We're making a cash stay at an Element hotel during an SEC football weekend. I see 10% off up to $57 (for charges $100 and over) on 2 of our Chase Cards. At check out, can I put 1 night on 1 card and 1 night on another card to reap the $114 total off? (Prices are still stupid, but that is a nice dent in the overall price.)

Edit: nvm, our hotel is expensive but not THAT expensive that it'll make that much difference. I think we'd get $57 if we just used 1 card and $70 if we used 2 cards. Hotel is around $350/night. I'll figure out which set of points makes the most sense, and DH's CSP points make more sense then putting it on a sock drawered Chase Aer Lingus card (which is the one I found first since it's mine) --- guess we'll see if I feel like bringing another card along for $13. This is presuming I can split the charges on the 2 cards to begin with.

 

[elgerber]

So I keep seeing you guys mentioning the US Bank Biz Bonus, so I finally looked it up. Is it really that easy? Are there any issues with a "biz"? I have a US Bank personal account as my main account, had it for 9 years. That doesn't exclude me from the biz bonus right? the $800 is a nice chunk, but I have to wait until the 1st of November, to pull my $$ back out of Discover, where it's parked for a bonus there. And the CC funding works with Ink cards?

Just wondering if anyone has any thoughts on this account?

 

[iujen94]

We're making a cash stay at an Element hotel during an SEC football weekend. I see 10% off up to $57 (for charges $100 and over) on 2 of our Chase Cards. At check out, can I put 1 night on 1 card and 1 night on another card to reap the $114 total off? (Prices are still stupid, but that is a nice dent in the overall price.)

Edit: nvm, our hotel is expensive but not THAT expensive that it'll make that much difference. I think we'd get $57 if we just used 1 card and $70 if we used 2 cards. Hotel is around $350/night. I'll figure out which set of points makes the most sense, and DH's CSP points make more sense then putting it on a sock drawered Chase Aer Lingus card (which is the one I found first since it's mine) --- guess we'll see if I feel like bringing another card along for $13. This is presuming I can split the charges on the 2 cards to begin with.

I’ve done this at hotels before, for the exact same reason. Usually it’s not a problem. I always ask at check in since they’ll often charge your card on file before you physically check out, then it can be a hassle getting the charges reversed. So sometimes I’ll just ask at check in if I can go ahead and pay $x on card A and then just charge the balance to card B (my card on file).

 

[leeniewdw]

I’ve done this at hotels before, for the exact same reason. Usually it’s not a problem. I always ask at check in since they’ll often charge your card on file before you physically check out, then it can be a hassle getting the charges reversed. So sometimes I’ll just ask at check in if I can go ahead and pay $x on card A and then just charge the balance to card B (my card on file).

Thanks! I'll mention on check-in for sure. We'll go ahead and bring the Aer Lingus card because in reviewing the offers, they have 2 gas + multiple offers for fast food/restaurants we may use, the SEC game weekend precedes a week at the beach so we'll be gone long enough that we'll probably use the other offers. And $13 extra off is $13 extra off!

 

[Sheree]

Update on my IHG Holiday Inn Express debacle.
horrible customer service

they were sorry for the inconvenience and redeposited my 25k points and an extra 5k.

um no. they claimed it was closed for reno. then why did I get a reconfirmation 2 days ahead and was never notified hotel was not accepting guests. they were housing migrants. this was found out day of check in, concert and playoffs in Baltimore, no rooms other than $800+ to be found

3 conversations later I got an extra 15k points, doesn't even cover my $100+ uber ride to where I had to stay.

If I could figure out what to do with my 190k points I'd close the card immediately. transfer to airlines isn't worth it.

 

[afan]

If I could figure out what to do with my 190k points I'd close the card immediately. transfer to airlines isn't worth it

If you no longer want to stay at any IHG property though it would be better to transfer the points. The points also won't go away if you cancel the card, they may eventually expire, I don't know what IHG's terms are on if points expire.

 

[miztressuz]

I think this is from Amex, not Lowes? I have a part time job bartending at a local small amphitheater and we use Square point of sale machines for payments. I've noticed people are sometimes surprised that when you get to the "want a receipt via email, text, no receipt" part, it auto-populates the email address (it hides a good part of it with asterisks). I know a few people are surprised. It doesn't do this for all people/cards, but this is not a system that "knows" anyone.

For your example, that is a Square feature. Once you associate a phone or email address with that card, anytime you use that card through the Square network it remembers your contact details. I've nicknamed it the "creepy service", but it's convenient. I used a different card with the same vendor once and had to give her my phone number again for the receipt. Apparently I hadn't used that card with Square yet (or haven't had an electronic receipt sent yet) so instead of her just selecting the number on file like usual, had to enter it again to text me my receipt. Closest info I found about it with a quicky search on Square is the Automatic Receipts option -
https://squareup.com/help/us/en/article/5212-automatic-receipts

Evidently if I turn that on and give an email address instead it may not even ask. But I'm good with text receipts. I've been all over the country and sellers just need that one tap for a receipt. Square has a pretty good SMS service as I get notified within seconds. Creepy but convenient.

 

[IFlossU]

Just wondering if anyone has any thoughts on this account?

Between DH and myself we’ve done a few UsBank bonuses. They’ve all worked out well, and been fairly easy. My understanding is that Biz accounts can still have $3k in credit card funding. I’ve personally done this 2x with no problems.

ETA: Super easy to close accounts through chat.

 

[leeniewdw]

We're getting close to making a final decision about Fall 2024 travel. At this point we're thinking of 2 weeks in Italy/Switzerland. If I had my choice we'd stick to Northern Italy/Switzerland, but my DS who is making his 3rd trip to Italy in the last 3 months tomorrow (2 for work, 1 for vacation with his DW) keeps saying we need to visit Rome on our first trip.

Anyway, I'm still a little intimidated with finding award flights (Aer Lingus was very simple) and I've been running searches periodically. Today I'm finding the following:

IAD-AMS-FCO on KLM Biz (mid Sept '24 dates): 70k pts + $240/ticket

ZRH-CDG-IAD on AF (early Oct '24 dates):

• Biz 70k pts + $314/ticket
• Prem Econ 53k pts + $230/ticket
• Economy 17k pts + $163/ticket

These are all via Flying Blue and currently there's a 25% transfer bonus from URs. So it's even less pts wise. I feel like these are decent redemptions???? We did Biz to Ireland and Economy back, so that 17k is very tempting (but flight is longer).

Our home airport is RDU and while I did find some random RDU-FCO (via CDG I think) previously on Virgin Atlantic, I'm not seeing anything currently around these dates (could be too soon, but who knows if flights award flights would still be available via VA when it hits their window). My DS lives in DC and we could drive up and either stay with them the night before or just drive day of and leave our car at their house (or add a positioning flight later).

This is a tough one as a newbie for Euro travel hacking. Since I used Aer Lingus/Avios pts that originated in Avios for Ireland and the Aer Lingus redemption chart is fixed (you just have to jump on the seats), this is much more head spinning (along with a 1 way transfer on the points).

ETA: Just picked an earlier date on VA's site and found a RDU-CDG-FCO for 12k pts + $166 which is amazing (yes, I know, Economy) but the Premium and Upper Class are sold out. The search continues. ETA - Again! I should just delete this whole post LOL -- now I AM seeing Upper Class on VA for 48.5k pts +$289 on another date in early Sept, so no current xfer bonus, but it's from RDU.

 

[mmmears]

For what it's worth, I think the 70k deal for the J seats is good. It's pretty much what I have flown a few times. I think booking through Flying Blue is easier than trying to transfer points to AL (from what I have read here). Both URs and MRs transfer to FB, and in my experience at least the transfer has been almost instant. Then we just book the flights, pick our seats, and we are done. If you'd prefer economy, though, you can save a lot of points, but from the west coast, I won't go if I can't fly a lie flat seat. I'd like to try VA upper class (DD flew it on a last minute flight and really liked it) but I worry about waiting for those seats to open up and then losing out on the first set, so I pretty much go with whatever drops first that I think is acceptable. Hope this helps.

 

[Best Aunt]

Update on my IHG Holiday Inn Express debacle.
horrible customer service...

If I could figure out what to do with my 190k points I'd close the card immediately. transfer to airlines isn't worth it.

Transferring to airline miles might not be good if you are looking at a dollar value for your IHG points.

But if you are absolutely positively never going to stay at an IHG property again, you can keep an eye out for airline offers. United currently has an offer: 30% bonus of up to 25,000 miles if you transfer hotel points to United miles.

For many hotel chains, you can do the conversion yourself online. For IHG, you have to call the IGH One Rewards Center at 888-211-9874.

 

[Sheree]

If you no longer want to stay at any IHG property though it would be better to transfer the points. The points also won't go away if you cancel the card, they may eventually expire, I don't know what IHG's terms are on if points expire.

Thanks
I'm hesitant knowing how bad communication is

 

[Sheree]

Transferring to airline miles might not be good if you are looking at a dollar value for your IHG points.

But if you are absolutely positively never going to stay at an IHG property again, you can keep an eye out for airline offers. United currently has an offer: 30% bonus of up to 25,000 miles if you transfer hotel points to United miles.

For many hotel chains, you can do the

conversion yourself online. For IHG, you have to call the IGH One Rewards Center at 888-211-9874.

Thank you. My 190k yields 38kmiles so about 50k total

 

[spacerangerqueen]

Update on my IHG Holiday Inn Express debacle.
horrible customer service

they were sorry for the inconvenience and redeposited my 25k points and an extra 5k.

um no. they claimed it was closed for reno. then why did I get a reconfirmation 2 days ahead and was never notified hotel was not accepting guests. they were housing migrants. this was found out day of check in, concert and playoffs in Baltimore, no rooms other than $800+ to be found

3 conversations later I got an extra 15k points, doesn't even cover my $100+ uber ride to where I had to stay.

If I could figure out what to do with my 190k points I'd close the card immediately. transfer to airlines isn't worth it.

I can definitely understand swearing off Holiday Inn after that! That's crazy.
Don't Kimptons fall under the IHG umbrella? We stayed at one in Denver and it was fantastic! Even if you just blow all the points on one Kimpton stay and then walk away, I think that's a better use of the points than transfering them out.

 

[newski_mom]

So I keep seeing you guys mentioning the US Bank Biz Bonus, so I finally looked it up. Is it really that easy? Are there any issues with a "biz"? I have a US Bank personal account as my main account, had it for 9 years. That doesn't exclude me from the biz bonus right? the $800 is a nice chunk, but I have to wait until the 1st of November, to pull my $$ back out of Discover, where it's parked for a bonus there. And the CC funding works with Ink cards?

Just wondering if anyone has any thoughts on this account?

Between DH and myself we’ve done a few UsBank bonuses. They’ve all worked out well, and been fairly easy. My understanding is that Biz accounts can still have $3k in credit card funding. I’ve personally done this 2x with no problems.

ETA: Super easy to close accounts through chat.

I just looked this up too. Seems like a very good deal. I didn't see a write up on it on doc - that's where I usually get my bank account information from.

My biggest problem lately has been getting the big deposits into the new bank. With Chase, we had to go to a branch and physically deposit a check. The nearest one is about 45 minutes away, but luckily we go to that area most weekends, so it wasn't a big deal. We do have a US Bank location not to far from us, so that would be an option if I can't get the online transfers to work.

I'm thinking I might try to go for this one!

 

[MsOnceUponATime]

Is this for next year? We flew to CDG last year on AF in J, then returned from FCO through LHR on BA (AF wanted too many points), which of course meant we were hit with taxes. Pretty much booked something similar for 2024 - I stalked the AF and the BA websites until I could find a flight that worked with our schedule and how much we were willing to pay (points-wise).



We sailed on the 9nt Dream cruise from Barcelona to Rome a few months ago. I'm not sure which ports they are visiting, but let me know if you want any recommendations for tour guides (we did private tours only). Flew to CDG on AF, spent a week there at the PHPV on points and a suite upgrade, then took the train to Barcelona for the cruise. Inter-Europe flights and rail are plentiful and not expensive. If you can get a good flight to Europe, it might be easier to take it and then find a way to get to Barcelona if Iberia isn't working out for you.

Yes, this is for June of next year. And my husband informed me over the weekend that he'd like to go to Italy, instead of Greece, for his birthday next year. This makes the trip much easier for me to plan.
We'll do two weeks Greece in '26 when I have my one month sabbatical. So -- onto a new plan A,B,&C!

Thank you all for all of your guidance thus far. I truly appreciate it.

 

[Sheree]

advice please!

Oct 24 ewr-cdg rt

checking flying blue and united

right now for dates out there numbers are crazy high 440k one way pp for biz

this was yesterday looking at latest flights available.

i created a flying blue account. UR has transfer bonus. how is everyone seeing 70k pp each way?

we leave ewr either 10/16 (preferred) or 10/17, coming back 10/26

i haven't used the point.me oryeah yet as those dates aren't out yet.

when do I transfer? should they be there prior?

I've always booked econ with united but really would like to try biz at least going

i will also have 150k mr to transfer but right now it seems like my 500k ur are better to use

 

[iujen94]

advice please!

Oct 24 ewr-cdg rt

checking flying blue and united

right now for dates out there numbers are crazy high 440k one way pp for biz

this was yesterday looking at latest flights available.

i created a flying blue account. UR has transfer bonus. how is everyone seeing 70k pp each way?

we leave ewr either 10/16 (preferred) or 10/17, coming back 10/26

i haven't used the point.me oryeah yet as those dates aren't out yet.

when do I transfer? should they be there prior?

I've always booked econ with united but really would like to try biz at least going

i will also have 150k mr to transfer but right now it seems like my 500k ur are better to use

I don’t know if your flight will follow the same pattern, but just as a data point… I was stalking flights for next June - BCN-EWR-RDU. The pattern I saw was that, on release day, prices would be high (395k one way for biz). On the 4th day they’d drop to a more tolerable level (still high, but tolerable). After a day or two at the lower prices, they’d bounce back up to 295k and stick there. (I should say - this was true of Saturday and Sunday flights. We needed a Sunday flight. Weekday flights saw a little more volatility.). We booked our flight during that 2-day sweet spot window at 150k. Again, not great, but we were very inflexible on date, and it was a great itinerary for us, so I was happy with it. So my advice would be to keep an eye on prices every day and cross your fingers that day 4 will see a price drop.

Edited to add important detail: we booked direct with United, transferring URs to United.

 

[leeniewdw]

advice please!

Oct 24 ewr-cdg rt

checking flying blue and united

right now for dates out there numbers are crazy high 440k one way pp for biz

this was yesterday looking at latest flights available.

i created a flying blue account. UR has transfer bonus. how is everyone seeing 70k pp each way?

we leave ewr either 10/16 (preferred) or 10/17, coming back 10/26

i haven't used the point.me oryeah yet as those dates aren't out yet.

when do I transfer? should they be there prior?

I've always booked econ with united but really would like to try biz at least going

i will also have 150k mr to transfer but right now it seems like my 500k ur are better to use

I am absolutely no expert but I’ve been trying to the research for next year (Sept/Oct) for east coast to Rome and return from Zurich. What I found is that some weeks have NO great redemptions and some weeks have 1 or 2. I don't have my notes in front of me, but when I looked at Sept, I was able to find 70k (one way biz) from IAD on a few dates on Sept (no weekends).

I also used Virgin Atlantic to search award flights and found 1 ways from RDU (my home/preferred airport) for earlier date in September that did NOT show on FB’s search. This is a newer route for AF so I think the searching is fubar’d on FB. Trying to not make it complicated, but the reality is that it’s complicated.

The catch between FB vs VA is that the flights will show on FB first, then later on VA.

But have you tried looking at JFK?

 

[mmmears]

advice please!

Oct 24 ewr-cdg rt

checking flying blue and united

right now for dates out there numbers are crazy high 440k one way pp for biz

this was yesterday looking at latest flights available.

i created a flying blue account. UR has transfer bonus. how is everyone seeing 70k pp each way?

we leave ewr either 10/16 (preferred) or 10/17, coming back 10/26

i haven't used the point.me oryeah yet as those dates aren't out yet.

when do I transfer? should they be there prior?

I've always booked econ with united but really would like to try biz at least going

i will also have 150k mr to transfer but right now it seems like my 500k ur are better to use

Keep checking every day (and watch the days around the ones you really want). Like the post quoted below, I saw a similar pattern with FB for our flights for Summer 2024. We also chose to add a day onto the trip when the day before our goal date went under 100K. I'm happy to have another day in Europe, so no big deal. Also look at one-way flights, not RT. You may need to be flexible, but something should turn up since they just released your dates. It may not be the exact date you need (which is why we ended up flying home on BA when that date was non-negotiable and AF never went below 350k).

I don’t know if your flight will follow the same pattern, but just as a data point… I was stalking flights for next June - BCN-EWR-RDU. The pattern I saw was that, on release day, prices would be high (395k one way for biz). On the 4th day they’d drop to a more tolerable level (still high, but tolerable). After a day or two at the lower prices, they’d bounce back up to 295k and stick there. (I should say - this was true of Saturday and Sunday flights. We needed a Sunday flight. Weekday flights saw a little more volatility.). We booked our flight during that 2-day sweet spot window at 150k. Again, not great, but we were very inflexible on date, and it was a great itinerary for us, so I was happy with it. So my advice would be to keep an eye on prices every day and cross your fingers that day 4 will see a price drop.

Edited to add important detail: we booked direct with United, transferring URs to United.

Same with FB.