I love credit cards so much!

[Dugette]

Anyone have experience with Hilton? Trying to book for next summer, which has just opened up and no points rates available at all. Do they become available later? Can you convert a reservation made for a cash price to points? Or am I just out of luck & wont be able to use points at all.

I second this question. I was just looking too for June 2018. Hunting around a bit, it looks like they list points up to the end of 2017? Anyone know when 2018 point reservations will open for Hilton properties?

 

[Ngwira]

Re the whole no Visa to pay mortgages via Plastiq change, I'd also add (especially for those here who don't follow the chatter on Reddit) that people were abusing the heck out of Visa's cards that were coding mortgage payments as 3x travel.

Some people were taking out tens of thousands of $ (or more) HELOC to manufacture a mortgage debt to show Plastiq, then making payments on the HELOC using CSR/CIP via Plastiq, pocketing 3x UR points, and paying off their credit cards with money from the HELOC and eating the small transaction fee. This is why we can't have nice things.

I also read Amex changed the 50% points rebate on flights booked with the Business platinum because people were booking refundable flights, getting 50 percent of their points back, then cancelling the flights and pocketing the extra points...if there is a loophole, people will attempt to exploit it...

 

[Lehuaann]

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!

Does SW business require a personal guarantee and report monthly? Not a big deal on the PG. We have 2 business CC that required it, but don't report monthly.

 

[crazymomof4]

Does SW business require a personal guarantee and report monthly? Not a big deal on the PG. We have 2 business CC that required it, but don't report monthly.

I didn't end up enrolling in the Business card. Did 2 others.
Maybe someone else here can help....
The business does req $3000 in spending to qualify for promo points, not $2000 like the others

 

[Lehuaann]

I didn't end up enrolling in the Business card. Did 2 others.
Maybe someone else here can help....
The business does req $3000 in spending to qualify for promo points, not $2000 like the others

Thank you! I didn't realize the spending limits and also never gave any thought to applying for the Premiere and Plus at the same time. Probably because I've read more about people applying for (1) personal and (1) business. That may be the route we go

 

[CyndiLouWho]

I second this question. I was just looking too for June 2018. Hunting around a bit, it looks like they list points up to the end of 2017? Anyone know when 2018 point reservations will open for Hilton properties?

I went ahead and made a refundable/changeable reservation but need another. Would love to know when I can book with points cause I'm not paying to stay for sure

 

[Albort]

Just when some recent DPs are reporting Plastiq coding as 3x for mortgages when using CIP...

I hope this change doesn't affect rent payments. My property management company allows for rent payments by credit card directly through their portal, so I have that as an option to meet the minimum spend on my new CIP if Plastiq won't process. But I'd rather give Plastiq one more try, especially if rent is coding again as 3x on CIP.

I just did a plastiq payment with rent, it coded 1x with csr. I have been using plastiq to make minimums with my SPG card. wished i did more plastiq payments earlier to get some more UR points. :/

I spent way more time than I'm willing to admit reading about cryptocurrency last night and I still don't understand it. Got a simple explanation of how you use it?

Sure, its like stocks but instead of buying stocks you buy cryptocurrency. For example, you buy bitcoin for like $1000. You are charged 3% of that in fees. You wait for bitcoin to gain 3%+ in value, you sell your bitcoin at that point. You basically make back your fee.

 

[Albort]

hmmm this made a light bulb go on over my head.
I am currently enrolled in the Disney Visa 4% on utilities promotion. I won't come near to hitting their max allowed but if I pre-paid some of my utilities I could accrue more Disney Rewards before the promo ends. I guess this would be allowable by Chase Disney Rewards?

they wouldn't know if your prepaying or not. unless they are like amex and get level3 data. doubt it though. prepay away!

 

[Lain]

I just did a plastiq payment with rent, it coded 1x with csr. I have been using plastiq to make minimums with my SPG card. wished i did more plastiq payments earlier to get some more UR points. :/

My CIP arrived yesterday and I just set up next month's rent payment with Plastiq tonight. What has this hobby done to me that I'm paying my rent early? With all the nerfs hitting CSR, Visa, and Citi/AT&T -- seemingly everyday, and some recent DPs pointing to CIP still earning 3x, I wanted to get this payment in quickly to see if I could still get 3x and meet the minimum spend ASAP. I spent this morning switching my and DW's cell phone bills, cable and utilities, and various other recurring charges over to the CIP. Apparently, one of the charges triggered a fraud alert on the CIP so when I got around to setting up rent, Plastiq initially returned an error that Chase declined the charge. I was worried that the Visa ban on mortgages extended to rent payments too, or at least my property management company, but a csr was able to clear the flag for me and the charge went through on the second try. Now to see how it codes!

 

[peel]

@Lain What happens when a fraud alert is triggered? Do you get a call or a text or something? I'm so paranoid about using the CIP. I just made my first purchase an hour ago, and it was for concert tickets. It shows as pending in my account, so I'm assuming I would have already known if there was a fraud alert. But I missed a random phone call from Ohio not long after the purchase. No one left a message, so I don't think it was Chase.

 

[Dugette]

I have no experience with Flexperks but if you are getting a value of 2 cents per point I may look into that so thanks for sharing. I'm all about diversifying the points and miles portfolio.

For what it's worth, I see a lot of the credit card review sites dislike Flexperks, but it's worked well for us. Part of that might be that we are in a Delta hub (MSP), so some of the other options aren't as appealing. With the Flexperks, we can use them for any airline and will likely be using them on Icelandair for France. The key is to get flights near the max cut-offs for each point level. We commonly get flights just under $400, so it makes sense. And France will likely be just under $800, so again maxing out the earnings. (In fact, France is actually over $800 for adults, but Icelandair discounts child tickets and we have one kid, so that brings the average just under $800 and Flexperks seems to be using that average when I do a test booking. )

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks to those of you who offered advice for me! I think I have a plan and wanted to throw it out here to see if there are any obvious pitfalls I've missed. I've quoted my original post below in case you need to reference any details there. Here's the plan:

*We should have France airfare mostly covered between the Flexperks we already have and the Barclay Arrival + that DH just got (we'll put the 3rd/not free airfare on that for the credit that will cover the majority of the cost).

*We should have about 4 free Hilton nights in France with the Hilton Surpass card bonuses - we already did the spend and should have over 200k points post any day now. Early next year, we each get a free weekend night, so we can use those for pre/post Alaskan DCL cruise in Vancouver, if needed.

*After looking into hotel cards a bit more, I'm planning to get the Hyatt card for the two free nights that can be used at the Park Hyatt Vendome in Paris. I am currently at 5/24, but I don't think it matters for this card? Also, my oldest two fall off within a month of each other, so I'm thinking I get this ASAP instead of waiting until the end of the year (oldest were Nov & Dec 2015). After DH gets his Chase, I can add him as an AU to get the extra points.

*Once those two oldest fall off (so, January 2018, I guess?), I'll get the CSP. Not certain of the use, but possibly cruise airfare for Alaska in August 2018 or any additional hotel needs for France (though that would be pretty last-minute, as we're planning for June 2018).

*After I have the CSP, get the Barclay Arrival + and use that credit against car rental for France (should cover most of it).

For DH, he is only at 3/24, so:

*CSR right away. We can use the GE credit to get it for our daughter (we have it) and he might use the lounges as he travels for work a few times per year. My thought is that I can transfer any CSP points I have over to his CSR card for redemption if we are using the portal. And I might downgrade my CSP before the annual fee if I can move all the points to him. Again, using for either cruise airfare or misc. hotels. Does anyone know if paying for a Disneyland Paris package would count as travel for the credit on this?

*Around Nov. 2017, have DH get the Hyatt Card as well. That will allow me time to get the Chase so he can add me as an AU the third month to get the bonus. Again, two free nights for Paris.

I know there are some other great card options out there (Club Carlson, SPG, etc.), but thinking I'll save those for future trips. As of this plan, we should have 8 free nights in France, 4 nights at DLP as part of a 50% off early booking package I found, then only two nights left to cover, either with extra points or CSP/CSR, assuming we stay for 2 weeks.

Also, in reading some of the old posts here, I'm realizing that not only am I a "lazy" rewards earner, but I also value quantity over quality - if I can take 3 trips in coach, I will pick that every time over 1 trip in 1st class. So, anything where I can earn nights and flights easily and frequently is my thing. This whole plan is the most work I've EVER put into travel discounts/freebies, despite being known IRL as someone who gets all the deals.

Thanks for any feedback on the plan before I put it into action!

Hi, all. I've been lurking on and off here and wanted to thank you for the great tips and motivation to make the most of CCs. And I also could use some advice on next moves and what to apply for, as I'm a bit overwhelmed by the options. Here's a run-down of our situation (trying to provide pertinent details, but sorry that this is so long):

*Trying to get as much of the airfare & hotels free as we can for vacation to France in (probably) May/June 2018 for hopefully 2 weeks. Also going to WDW in October 2017 and hoping to take a DCL Alaskan Cruise in Aug. 2018. We can only make all of these things happen in this time frame by getting significant chunks of travel costs free/cheap, especially focusing on France.

*DH and I both have 800+ credit scores. I read about the 5/24 rule for Chase and he is fine at 3/24, but I'm at 5/24 until Nov 2017 (assuming my Discount Tire card counts, which I think it does). We generally run about $2k/month through our cards between the two of us. We have one DD, who is currently 4 and will travel with us.

*We both got the Hilton Surpass (AmEx) with the 100k bonus and completed that spend recently. I expect, between the two of us, that we can get at least 4 nights in France at Hilton properties from that. We also will each get a free night on our anniversary date (March), which I am thinking to use for hotel on the night before and after our cruise in Vancouver.

*We both got the Flexperks AmEx cards when they had large sign-up bonuses. Between us, we currently have about 86k Flexperks. 30k points will get up to $600 flights and 40k will get up to $800 flights. Our original goal was to get that up to 90k and get all 3 flights free if we could snag them at a low point of under $600. However, I'm growing doubtful that will happen and want to get airfare booked soon. I am still seeing a lot of options just under $800, so I'm thinking we use Flexperks for 2 free tickets and pay for the third.

*Thinking we will offset most cost of that 3rd ticket with savings from the Barclaycard Arrival Plus that DH just got approved for (that's his 3/24, by the way). Once it arrives, we are wanting to purchase our WDW airfare, so will put it on that card, along with regular expenses, to hit the $3k spend, then use the travel credit against that airfare. Should be over $500 in credit. I'd like to get this card too, but thinking I should wait until after I get a Chase product, due to the 5/24? But that puts me into 2018, if I can't get Chase until Nov/Dec. I'm thinking that timing would probably still be okay to purchase Vancouver airfare for the Aug 2018 cruise and get credit, though, so still good.

*I keep seeing the CSR raved about, but I cannot figure out why I should get that vs. a Chase Marriott Rewards card for my purposes? I don't intend to keep the card long term, unless someone convinces me to (our long-term keepers are the US Bank Flexperks Visa cards we've had forever and gotten loads of free flights out of - oh, and the Delta AmEx for the free bags mostly). If I'm understanding right, the CSR would net us $600/each ($750 booking through UR - $450 annual fee + $300 travel credit). That would probably get us somewhere between 4-5 hotel nights in France. I'm seeing that a lot of people say the reward is better if you transfer to a partner, but that would only give me 50k or so points (per card) to transfer to Marriott, right? But if I did the Marriott card directly, the bonus is 80k points. That for both of us would also get us probably 5 nights from what I can see. The only notable plus I'm seeing to CSR is the Global Entry credit. DH & I both got that with our FP AmEx cards, but DD needs it for France. So long as I could use it to get hers, that would be useful - so maybe just one of us gets CSR?

Sorry for the novel, but if anybody has any pointers on any parts of this, I'd appreciate it. Am I on the right track? Am I missing something? How would you make these trips all happen? What cards would you get for us and in what order? (And if it's relevant, we have a free 6 night WDW resort stay for October, thanks to Guest Relations, and we have Annual Passes, so airfare and food are the only expenses. The DCL Alaska is mostly going to be cruise cost that we'll use discounted Disney gift cards to pay. France is really the wild card where nothing is pre-paid and hotel rewards are useful.)

 

[Lain]

@Lain What happens when a fraud alert is triggered? Do you get a call or a text or something? I'm so paranoid about using the CIP. I just made my first purchase an hour ago, and it was for concert tickets. It shows as pending in my account, so I'm assuming I would have already known if there was a fraud alert. But I missed a random phone call from Ohio not long after the purchase. No one left a message, so I don't think it was Chase.

On the CIP? Nothing, except that subsequent transactions are declined and you'll have to call Chase customer service to find out what's wrong and resolve it. The customer service rep did ask if I received a fraud alert, but I didn't as I had just set up my separate Ink online account that morning and I hadn't played around with the settings. I suppose there's an option to receive a fraud alert via text or email. When I used RadPad for the first time with my CSR, I received both text and email fraud alerts.

P.S. I am noticing that my CIP seems to be a lot more sensitive to charges. I don't know if it's because it's a new card and there's no prior transaction history to compare against. I switched my iTunes billing over to the CIP but did not make any actual charges, and the Chase rep confirmed this and said a preauthorization was still made to check that it's a valid card -- something that fraudsters also do before making any purchases. The Csr said that triggered the fraud alert. He supposedly cleared it, my Plastiq payment went through, but this morning a Costco order I put on the CIP has been declined... I don't have that much time to be on hold and talk on the phone with Csrs...

 

[peel]

On the CIP? Nothing, except that subsequent transactions are declined and you'll have to call Chase customer service to find out what's wrong and resolve it. The customer service rep did ask if I received a fraud alert, but I didn't as I had just set up my separate Ink online account that morning and I hadn't played around with the settings. I suppose there's an option to receive a fraud alert via text or email. When I used RadPad for the first time with my CSR, I received both text and email fraud alerts.

P.S. I am noticing that my CIP seems to be a lot more sensitive to charges. I don't know if it's because it's a new card and there's no prior transaction history to compare against. I switched my iTunes billing over to the CIP but did not make any actual charges, and the Chase rep confirmed this and said a preauthorization was still made to check that it's a valid card -- something that fraudsters also do before making any purchases. The Csr said that triggered the fraud alert. He supposedly cleared it, my Plastiq payment went through, but this morning a Costco order I put on the CIP has been declined... I don't have that much time to be on hold and talk on the phone with Csrs...

Thanks. I'll have to check all of my settings, too. I created my account yesterday but I didn't pay attention to the settings. I bought these tickets this morning for my friend and I managed to get front row center seats--living up to my reputation for scoring excellent concert tickets--so I definitely don't want the sale to be jeopardized.

 

[mhartman09]

Woo Hoo! Logged into DH's RR account today and set up myself as his companion!! I'm thrilled.

 

[crazymomof4]

Woo Hoo! Logged into DH's RR account today and set up myself as his companion!! I'm thrilled.

View attachment 244391

Wow! You work FAST!!!!! Congrats!

 

[mhartman09]

Wow! You work FAST!!!!! Congrats!

Thanks. We actually got the Plus an Premier cards a few months back when they were only 50K bonuses. We were working a little extra spend to reach CP when the 60K bonus came out, so I SM'd Chase and they agreed to give us the extra 10K on one of his cards since it has been open less than 90 days. That worked out great. Now I need to put our CP to use for flights to Orlando in October!

 

[peel]

Now I need to put our CP to use for flights to Orlando in October!

There's a flash sale today!

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Is there any legit way my mom could get an SPG AMEX and transfer Starpoints to me? Or can I use her Starpoints to book a room where she won't be traveling?

 

[kmc8826]

Is there any legit way my mom could get an SPG AMEX and transfer Starpoints to me? Or can I use her Starpoints to book a room where she won't be traveling?

Unless she lives with you I don't think so. DH and I both got the SPG AMEX this year when it was the bonus. For some reason when it was set up they assigned a new number to him and gave me the same number. There weren't any points on it but I already had a number which I put on the application form. I called them and long story short it is still not entirely correct. But the SPG employee told me to just transfer the points on DH's card to mine. He said it was allowed between household members/spouses. At first though he told me to just leave the points on his and it would be fine as long as we were both on the reservation. When I explained that I might travel without him and wanted my own SPG card/account used he said that wasn't allowed. That person whose account points were used had to travel. Hopefully someone not as new to SPG has a better answer...

 

[Judique]

Unless she lives with you I don't think so. DH and I both got the SPG AMEX this year when it was the bonus. For some reason when it was set up they assigned a new number to him and gave me the same number. There weren't any points on it but I already had a number which I put on the application form. I called them and long story short it is still not entirely correct. But the SPG employee told me to just transfer the points on DH's card to mine. He said it was allowed between household members/spouses. At first though he told me to just leave the points on his and it would be fine as long as we were both on the reservation. When I explained that I might travel without him and wanted my own SPG card/account used he said that wasn't allowed. That person whose account points were used had to travel. Hopefully someone not as new to SPG has a better answer...

I booked a room for another family using my SPG account. They were able to check in without me but I did have another room booked on a separate reservation for myself. So I was actually at the hotel but didn't have any interaction as far as checking them in was concerned that I remember.