I love credit cards so much!

[SouthFayetteFan]

This is getting hillarious. All my nights and stays were credited on 1/15. Maybe I'll get more?

Platinum here you come??? lol!!!

 

[wendow]

Oh, you're probably right, his Marriott Gold is conferring Gold to his Starwood.

To check if his SPG card is linked, log into his Starwood account. Click on his name, go to "Manage My Account" over on the left side and click "My Profile." Scroll down to "Credit Card Information" and it should be there if it's linked.

Yep, nothing under credit cards. So, if I put his card info in there, it should combine I guess the spg he linked his marriott to and the spg that was created when I opened his cc?

 

[platamama]

Haven't finished the spend yet. Just asked him if he had a Starwoods account and he says he has one for the career site?!? Good grief...he says he never created one for the hotel membership but that he linked his Marriott account. Not sure what he thinks he linked it to. So, how do I find the number that SPG created? Don't see anything on the Amex page about it. I wish they printed them on the cards like SW does.

Yep, nothing under credit cards. So, if I put his card info in there, it should combine I guess the spg he linked his marriott to and the spg that was created when I opened his cc?

Oh, I see your dilemma. Yes, it would be nice if AX printed those account numbers on the credit card. I do see that last 4 digits of my SPG preferred guest # when I log into AMEX, but that's not especially helpful.

I think when I got my personal SPG years ago, a separate welcome package was mailed from Starwood that contained a physical card with the membership number printed on it. Have you received one of those?

If you end up with two different SPG guest acct numbers with one person's name, it looks like you can combine those accounts - there's a form to do so online.

Good luck!

 

[wendow]

I think when I got my personal SPG years ago, a separate welcome package was mailed from Starwood that contained a physical card with the membership number printed on it. Have you received one of those?

No, not yet. Will try to put his CC info in later when I can get his card and see if that works. Thanks for the help!

 

[gottalovepluto]

Platinum here you come??? lol!!!

I don't shoot for that small fry stuff, it'll be LIFETIME Platinum for me thank you very much.

 

[vanjust14]

Haven't finished the spend yet. Just asked him if he had a Starwoods account and he says he has one for the career site?!? Good grief...he says he never created one for the hotel membership but that he linked his Marriott account. Not sure what he thinks he linked it to. So, how do I find the number that SPG created? Don't see anything on the Amex page about it. I wish they printed them on the cards like SW does.

I was just looking for my SPG number they created too. I found it in a welcome email that said: Welcome to Starwood Preferred Guest. When I opened it it said "You're In. Welcome to the Starwood Preferred Gust Program. Your SPG member number is XXXXXX". Maybe you can do a search in your DH's email. Hope you find it!

 

[wendow]

I was just looking for my SPG number they created too. I found it in a welcome email that said: Welcome to Starwood Preferred Guest. When I opened it it said "You're In. Welcome to the Starwood Preferred Gust Program. Your SPG member number is XXXXXX". Maybe you can do a search in your DH's email. Hope you find it!

He doesn't tell me anything! Grr, will have to go looking through that too Thanks!

 

[wendow]

Just checked my mortgage company and @vanjust14's way of addressing worked for me also through Plastiq. My payment has been posted and I earned 3x using my CIP!!

Thanks @vanjust14 !

 

[vanjust14]

Just checked my mortgage company and @vanjust14's way of addressing worked for me also through Plastiq. My payment has been posted and I earned 3x using my CIP!!

Thanks @vanjust14 !

Yay! So glad it worked for you!

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Can I ask what you need to do to get 5th night free at Hilton? Are there restrictions? I'm hoping to plan a Hawaii trip next summer and would like to stay at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. Any info or tips would be appreciated. Thanks!

I don't know if it is just on point ressies or cash ressies too... but it automatically calculates the 5th night as free. For example, if I am booking the Sandestin Hilton for 70k a night for 5 nights, it charges me 280k points, not 35k. Another caveat, is my hubby is diamond, so maybe verify in your research that it is/isn't status related as well.

WHAT?! If your group rate is above what the public is paying with general discounts the travel agent/s handling your group/tournaments/leagues is either making a killing or horrible at their job. I'm glad you're knowledgeable enough to research it out yourself!

Oh I am guessing they are making some dough. Why else would these companies be in business. It is a requirement by the tournament for the team to enter, not something our coach requires. I found that $80 rate, when the tournament link was charging $140 without any effort...just went straight to marriott and plugged in the dates. I think my jaw hit the floor. To their credit, it did include breakfast, but big deal. We get that free at hilton, so although that may help out someone, it doesn't help me, and I would never pay $60 for breakfast anyway.

Yes! Some of my daughter's tournaments are "stay to play" meaning we have to stay in an approved hotel and it has to be booked through their agent/service/whatever. It annoys me because I usually have to call in so I can't link through Swagbucks or any other portal. But, they do have minimum requirements for the hotel, one being breakfast. I can't remember where we stayed in 2016, but the hotel didn't normally offer breakfast and had to set up the conference room and provide breakfast for us each day. At least I get my CC points and last year was Marriott so I banked a few points there too, but I'd rather shop around for a lower rate, etc. I'm wondering if I can pay with points this year because that would be really nice.

Ours have been booked through an emailed link so far. We rack up points at Hilton b/c DH is diamond, so we prefer to stay there. I don't mind diversifying to Marriott as well, as he stays out enough we could probably achieve status at both, although not top tier at both. The problem is they don't stick with 1 or 2 chains...so far the last 3 tournaments have had required nights at hilton, marriott, and raddison brands. So basically you achieve nothing but getting some points for many diff brands...not enough at one place to do anything with. I am going to continue to skirt the rules until I get caught.

Just checked my mortgage company and @vanjust14's way of addressing worked for me also through Plastiq. My payment has been posted and I earned 3x using my CIP!!

Thanks @vanjust14 !

Wendow, what is the benefit here? I keep seeing people using plastique, but with the fee, I just don't get it. I am clearly overlooking something.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Thank you kind stranger who used my CSP link!!

 

[gottalovepluto]

...Wendow, what is the benefit here? I keep seeing people using plastique, but with the fee, I just don't get it. I am clearly overlooking something.

I think the plastic fee is 2.5%, so if you get 3% back you cancel the fee and get 0.5% back to boot. Also, depending on how you redeem URs you can squeeze more value out of them than just that 0.5%.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Wave goodbye to those SPG credits according to TPG: https://thepointsguy.com/2018/01/sp...itorial&utm_campaign=FACEBOOK-100000137509944

 

[Judique]

Hope you get to enjoy that! I ended up with 2 stays credited and 5 nights credited. I've never even stayed at an SPG property, actually just activated my online account today...

You get this credit just for having an SPG credit card. It's standard.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

I think the plastic fee is 2.5%, so if you get 3% back you cancel the fee and get 0.5% back to boot. Also, depending on how you redeem URs you can squeeze more value out of them than just that 0.5%.

OOOHHHH...that makes sense. Thanks!

 

[pillow]

Wave goodbye to those SPG credits according to TPG: https://thepointsguy.com/2018/01/sp...itorial&utm_campaign=FACEBOOK-100000137509944

Drats! I got excited when I saw my account this morning. I think they should let us keep them!!

 

[wendow]

OOOHHHH...that makes sense. Thanks!

Yes, @gottalovepluto explained the value correctly. I move my CIP points to my CSR so I earn about 2% in points on my mortgage payment by paying with plastiq.

 

[Albort]

Wave goodbye to those SPG credits according to TPG: https://thepointsguy.com/2018/01/sp...itorial&utm_campaign=FACEBOOK-100000137509944

booo. that sucks. :-/

 

[Judique]

Wave goodbye to those SPG credits according to TPG: https://thepointsguy.com/2018/01/sp...itorial&utm_campaign=FACEBOOK-100000137509944

So I go in my account and I just had the normal 2 stay/5 night credit. Sheesh - I don't even get to pretend I'm on my way to status!

This made me start searching cheap nights in my area - Md/Va/DC. I found $67 plus tax at a Sheraton in Rockville. Nope - don't need a room in Rockville this weekend. But, now I've also got the double credits!

Anyway, at some point I became a preferred guest plus, which gives me the late checkout and an upgraded room most of the time. So Gold is not that important to me right now. I've had it years ago.
I like being upgraded to a Club level room - nice to have a light breakfast close by with my free room!

I've never done late checkout as I'm usually either staying over or getting gone early.

I'm also working on my Marriott spend, which reminds me I have to figure out my old Marriott account. Going to have to call them to see if I still exist in their system.

 

[Lain]

Wendow, what is the benefit here? I keep seeing people using plastique, but with the fee, I just don't get it. I am clearly overlooking something.

I think the plastic fee is 2.5%, so if you get 3% back you cancel the fee and get 0.5% back to boot. Also, depending on how you redeem URs you can squeeze more value out of them than just that 0.5%.

OOOHHHH...that makes sense. Thanks!

Yes, @gottalovepluto explained the value correctly. I move my CIP points to my CSR so I earn about 2% in points on my mortgage payment by paying with plastiq.

For people trying to maximize points and miles earned on every dollar spent or meet a large minimum spending requirement, a lot of their biggest expenses don't accept credit cards for payment. That's spend that is not earning you any bonuses or rewards back. Plastiq is a bill pay service that is useful for bills or expenses that don't otherwise accept credit cards or otherwise charge a larger fee. Plastiq charges a 2.5% transaction fee for all credit card payments, and can be used to pay most bills.

(Visa and Amex don't allow their cards to be used on Plastiq to pay for mortgages, and some people have reported trouble getting car payments to go through. However, there are still gaps in these restricted kind of payments, like using @vanjust14 's trick to get around Plastiq's blacklist to pay her mortgage company.)

In most cases, yes, Plastiq's 2.5% fee would be a major cost that would eat into the credit card rewards and bonuses. However, it makes sense to use Plastiq in two situations:

1. When you pay bills through Plastiq using the CIP set as the payment method. Bills paid through Plastiq with the CIP currently earn 3x UR on the principal amount and the fee, thereby negating the fee.

So if I have a bill for $1,000 and pay a 2.5% fee of $25, I'll earn 3x UR back on that $1,025 when I use my CIP, earning 3,075 UR points, which is worth at least $30.75 if I decided to cash out the points or receive a statement credit where 1 UR = 1¢. This is like buying 1 UR, which is worth 1¢, for 0.81¢. If I transfer the 3,075 UR points to my CSR account, they are worth 50% more, or $46.12, towards travel booked on the Chase UR portal.

I think the CIP is the only card that still earns 3x points on Plastiq. Keep in mind that Plastiq could change how it codes payments on the CIP at any time, and has in the past. Last year, in early summer, the CSR and CIP earned 3x UR for paying rents and mortgages through Plastiq, because Plastiq was coding these payments as lodging and therefore earned 3x under travel. That came to an end after about 3 months. Then the CIP started earning 3x UR on, I believe, all kinds of payments (I earn 3x on my rent, utilities, student loans and DD's tuition with CIP through Plastiq). It's still coding this way, so get in while the gettin's good. (Plus you have a minimum spend to meet on the CIP, right?)

2. When you are trying to meet a minimum spending requirement on a new credit card with a big bonus. Some cards carry big bonuses, but also large spending requirements. For example, if you got the Amex Business Rewards Gold with a 75,000 MR points signup bonus, but you don't think you can meet a $5,000 or $10,000 spend in 3 months, rather than give up on the signup bonus that's worth at least $750, you start to think how much you might fall short, and what bills might not otherwise take credit cards but you can move over to Plastiq. Say that $1,000 bill from above would help you meet the minimum spend on your new Amex card. You'll pay the $25 fee to Plastiq, and it won't earn you 3x back like on the CIP, but it will have helped you get a bonus worth much more than what you paid in fees.

ETA: I should have said three situations. Plastiq occasionally has promotions that reduce the fees when you pay with certain brands of credit cards, give you rebates on certain kinds of payments, give you a "fee free" month if you schedule recurring payments for a certain amount of time, and "fee free dollars" or no fees on like $1000 when you refer new users. These all would lessen the cost of the promoted kinds of payments through Plastiq.