I love credit cards so much! v2.0 (see first page for add'l details)

[Lain]

Sad sad day. Went ahead and applied for the Aspire just now and got the popup.

Shoot.

The Aspire seems especially popup prone. I think you only have 1 Amex? I've noticed people who have only 1 or 2 cards seem more susceptible, maybe because Amex has less history to go off of. If there are other Amex cards you want, you could try for that. Then as you're close to meeting MSR, try again for the Aspire (at that point it'll look like you have more overall Amex spend). Keep putting spend on your first card too. No guarantees that it'll work, but that's what I'd try anyways.

I do just have the one, the Hilton Biz.

I guess it can't hurt to try for another, since I the goal is Hilton Points. And since I'm about to meet MSR on the CIP, I'll need something else to use to earn points of some sort.

I think the other Hilton cards are all personals, too, so I just need to see what's best for HH points.

Any specific recommendations?

I'm sorry you got hit with the pop up. This is what I was warning about.

Based on what I've seen, I think a major issue is your history with Amex is thin. You've had only one Amex card, the SurpassHilton Biz, which you opened just a few months ago and hit the MSR. I don't know what kind of spend you're still putting on the SurpassHilton Biz, and if it's dropped significantly since meeting MSR. It's important to keep spending on that card so it doesn't appear to Amex like you just opened the card for the bonus and now that you've met the MSR you're ready to move on to the next one. Because your history with Amex is thin, it has limited data about your patterns and levels of spend. You've never held a card for longer than a year (because you haven't had an Amex for a year), so you haven't paid any second year AFs. Amex may be putting the breaks on awarding you bonuses until it can determine whether you're a profitable customer.

Anecdotally, DW was hit with a pop up just 2 Amex cards in, but both cards were opened within her first year as an Amex cardmember in her own name (she'd been an AU on my Amex for years). We've made sure to put regular spend on her Amex cards and she eventually shook off the pop up.

You really should be spending on the Surpass. It earns you 6x Hilton points at supermarkets, restaurants, and gas stations. And when you spend $15k on the card in a calendar year, you earn a Free Weekend Night Certificate that you can use on a Friday, Saturday, or Sunday night stay at any Hilton hotel or resort. Since most supermarkets do not report L3 data to Amex, you can buy GCs, VGCs, and MCGCs along with your groceries to boost your spend, earn category bonus points, and spend towards a free weekend night. We've discussed MS and liquidation strategies if you need a way to increased spend without really spending.

Edit: Sorry, I got the cards mixed up. I’ve been a bit out of it lately with a lot of IRL stuff. The point remains — spend on your Amex card.

 

[smmco]

Question for DL experts. How do the crowds compare to WDW? I'm considering a Tues through Friday trip the first week of May.

 

[smmco]

THE TRAIN HAS DERAILED...cease all MSRs!
Ok guys...this is serious. AA is serious about locking and potentially shutting down accounts of people who they feel have engaged in what I will call "nefarious" activities. From this point forward I cannot recommend anybody attempting to earn a 2nd bonus on any AA card (Citi or Barclays) unless they've waited 24 months or 48 months as mentioned in the T&Cs on a public offer.

Read this post on DoC to see just how serious this is becoming! This is not worth messing with anymore!

Additionally, I would only comment here AT YOUR OWN RISK! I would recommend that you continue to take all discussion of this loophole to our dedicated DISchurners thread. I would not be openly discussing any activities you've participated in with opening cards (even if it's just 2 cards). At this point I cannot tell you if you are safe or not, all I can say is stay posted. (EDIT: If you didn't get more than 1 of the same card...you should be safe)

So in the future you could possibly get 4 AA bonuses using: (1) Citi personal, (2) Citi business, (3) Barclays personal, (4) Barclays businses. I would not go back to the well for 2nd bonuses on any of these cards outside of the published T&Cs regardless of what loophole you find that allows you to do so.

There's a couple of long threads about this on Flyer talk. Interesting to read.

 

[havaneselover]

I’d love to see The Music Man, too, but you’re right, it sure is pricey.

Maybe I missed it, but did you post what your daughter thought of Phantom of the Opera?

She loved it. And honestly I thought it was great and really wasn't that excited to see it. We had really great seats. Fifth row, left orchestra, on the aisle (used Chase Ultimate Rewards points). She'd seen Phantom with her dad at the Kennedy Center and said she couldn't really see much. She's also dying to see Les Miserables. I'm thinking we'll see it in London during her spring break in 2021 (early graduation gift).

 

[Alexle2007]

I am officially on vacation until 1/6/2020! DS and DH have one more day to get through and they will join me. Now to finish teacher gifts, teacher thank you notes, wrapping, lunch with girlfriends, running to Target to pick up orders and returns, packing...It’s going to be a busy day. But then it is nothing but relaxation in the sun with cocktails!

 

[Alexle2007]

Ok, I am still debating this teacher gift situation. I have a Ghiradelli bag of chocolates for all of DS’s teachers (9 of them). His specials I was thinking a $10 GC and his other teachers $50 GCs. Too little for private school? I have no idea what the expectation is. I did hand write a thank you note to all of them.

 

[Haley R]

Cool launch tonight

 

[orangecuse]

@ten6mom honestly if I were in your shoes I’d try for the 100k (or rumored 125k) Amex Plat offer. On a normal day you can turn that into 200k Hilton pounts or with a transfer bonus up to 240,000 or more. Thats a much bigger SUB than the Aspire and you already have Gold status with your Hilton biz so I wouldn’t get hugely upset. This card is a personal card and does have a large annual fee, but you can read up oj the triple dip to maximize using the airline credits, saks credits, and uber credits. I feel like since you have no MR cards yet might as well try and get the big fish

 

[IFlossU]

Question for DL experts. How do the crowds compare to WDW? I'm considering a Tues through Friday trip the first week of May.

My experience has been that DL is a “locals” park, meaning when AP’s aren’t blocked it’s still busier than one would expect because of all the locals. We actually prefer to go Memorial weekend, and even Summer time when the pass holders are blocked. I think WDW always “feels busier” to me but mostly I think that’s due to the fast pass set up in WDW. Maxpass at DL is PHENOMENAL compared to fastpass at WDW. Even with perceived higher crowds at DL you can accomplish so much more with Maxpass.

With all that said I think that time of year would be fine. But I would expect it to be busier than you might imagine. Also they do “grad nights” in May-June which causes a huge influx of kids. It’s never bothered us, but does some people.

Hopefully others will chime in

 

[ten6mom]

Remember, MRs can transfer to Hilton, often with a bonus so an MR card could be a HIlton point earner (and then add Raukten as an MR earning portal...). If you're okay with a business card my first recommendation for an MR earning biz is the Blue Biz Plus. I don't know if it even offers a SUB right now but it has the lowest AF -$0 AND it's 2x MR on all spend up to $50K.

The Green Biz is another low SUB-15K I believe (public offer) and the AF of $95 is waived for the first year so it's a 0 AF for year one. Both of those are good if you want to dip your toes in the MR environment.

If you want a personal then the personal gold has a higher fee (?$250) but 4x MRs at grocery/restaurants or the rebranded green isn't bad (although the AF isn't waived as it is for the green biz).

All are good options, although the BBP is my favorite biz and the gold is my favorite personal (likely just because it was available in pink for a while).

Thank you... I'm honestly not really sure what I want.... ugh

I'm sorry you got hit with the pop up. This is what I was warning about.

Based on what I've seen, I think a major issue is your history with Amex is thin. You've had only one Amex card, the SurpassHilton Biz, which you opened just a few months ago and hit the MSR. I don't know what kind of spend you're still putting on the SurpassHilton Biz, and if it's dropped significantly since meeting MSR. It's important to keep spending on that card so it doesn't appear to Amex like you just opened the card for the bonus and now that you've met the MSR you're ready to move on to the next one. Because your history with Amex is thin, it has limited data about your patterns and levels of spend. You've never held a card for longer than a year (because you haven't had an Amex for a year), so you haven't paid any second year AFs. Amex may be putting the breaks on awarding you bonuses until it can determine whether you're a profitable customer.

Anecdotally, DW was hit with a pop up just 2 Amex cards in, but both cards were opened within her first year as an Amex cardmember in her own name (she'd been an AU on my Amex for years). We've made sure to put regular spend on her Amex cards and she eventually shook off the pop up.

You really should be spending on the Surpass. It earns you 6x Hilton points at supermarkets, restaurants, and gas stations. And when you spend $15k on the card in a calendar year, you earn a Free Weekend Night Certificate that you can use on a Friday, Saturday, or Sunday night stay at any Hilton hotel or resort. Since most supermarkets do not report L3 data to Amex, you can buy GCs, VGCs, and MCGCs along with your groceries to boost your spend, earn category bonus points, and spend towards a free weekend night. We've discussed MS and liquidation strategies if you need a way to increased spend without really spending.

Edit: Sorry, I got the cards mixed up. I’ve been a bit out of it lately with a lot of IRL stuff. The point remains — spend on your Amex card.

Do you think I should apply for an ADDITIONAL Amex card, or just keep spending on the Biz one that I already have?

@ten6mom honestly if I were in your shoes I’d try for the 100k (or rumored 125k) Amex Plat offer. On a normal day you can turn that into 200k Hilton pounts or with a transfer bonus up to 240,000 or more. Thats a much bigger SUB than the Aspire and you already have Gold status with your Hilton biz so I wouldn’t get hugely upset. This card is a personal card and does have a large annual fee, but you can read up oj the triple dip to maximize using the airline credits, saks credits, and uber credits. I feel like since you have no MR cards yet might as well try and get the big fish

So, the Aspire has the airline and Hilton resort credits that would go toward "canceling" the AF... and you're right the AF on that Plat is really super high (for me... this last 6 months is the first time I have EVER paid an AF for a card.

I definitely won't use Saks, ever! Uber- maybe

 

[disfanforlife]

Look - this might be over the top...and I'm not trying to scare people. I don't think all of the sudden hundreds of us are going to forfeit miles. BUT I wanted it to be abundantly clear that it's time to walk away from anything in process right now.

I feel like the other day I was wishy washy on whether people pursuing another mailer or a 2nd or 3rd public offer should finish their MSR. The answer to that is NO to me now... I don't care if I spent $4,999 towards my MSR... I would not spend that last $1 at this point. I would walk away and hide...and hope to keep my miles.

This is also easy for me to say as I have no open AA cards or MSR I'm working on.

Edited

 

[StephPlum]

I can chime in here. My DH and I took our last trip before kids to Alaska. (So this has been 13 years but I think the info will still be pertinent.) We went with Holland America because of price and itinerary. I think the key to ask yourself is if you want to go to Glacier Bay. I really can't imagine going to Alaska and not going to Glacier Bay but lots of people do it. We plan on taking our boys on a land/cruise tour of Alaska in a few years. Our plan is to do the land portion first and then have a more relaxing second half by sailing southbound. Either way I am sure is fine. We did enjoy Holland even though we were in our twenties at the time. It definitely is an older crowd but it didn't bother us at all. (I would definitely go with a smaller ship though regardless of what cruise line you pick.) And Alaska is a great first cruise destination since everyone speaks your language when you step off the ship.
I really think you could book on your own, make the deposit and then transfer to Chase. If you have any questions there are plenty of us that would be happy to help out. You can PM me if you need any advice or help.

I'd recommend picking one that goes through Glacier Bay, it really is a different experience and probably the highlight of our cruise. Really makes it different cruise vs land Alaska experience to get the full picture. Also narrows down the field to a more manageable level. There are 7 cruise lines with permits for GB - Princess Cruise Lines Ltd, Holland America Line Inc., NCL (Bahamas) Ltd, Carnival plc (Cunard Line), Seabourn Cruise Line Limited, Viking Cruises Ltd and Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.
(https://www.nps.gov/glba/learn/news/glacier-bay-issues-new-contracts-for-cruise-ship-services.htm)
I believe all can be booked through Chase.

Princess and Holland usually get high marks for Alaska for their programs. We wanted to do Princess but timing was better to use up our NCL future cruise cert. I'd read reviews from cruises around the time period you are looking to travel to get an idea of what types of excursions, programs, and entertainment you might get on each ship. You may get different programs for May vs July vs September itineraries. Not all excursions are available at all times of the seasons.

You'd only need to book with the cruise line and then transfer to Chase if you wanted to use a non UR earning card for part of the payment or delay using your UR until a later date. If you have all the UR you want to use when ready to book then you can just go right through Chase.

Just getting home, so this may have already been mentioned. I know you’re a big fan of national parks. Be sure to pick a ship that cruises Glacier Bay. They limit the number of ships in there. It is absolutely stunning—the highlight of our cruise.

You all know me well. Glacier Bay is a must have on my itinerary. Thanks for that list of cruise lines. I’ll check those out.

Northbound vs Southbound: since it is our first cruise I was thinking I’d rather have the land part after being “stuck” on a ship for 7 days. Everyone I talk to says they loved an Alaskan cruise so I am sure we will as well. I think looking forward to something after the cruise will be good for us.

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

@Alexle2007 I gave each of dd's teachers $50.00 MC GCs and a gift (except her APEuro teacher who got a $50.00 Happy Dining card and $45.00 for Fandago), but this is her last year in HS and her teachers have been superb. Usually in private schools they have a collection from all the parents that goes to the teachers; dd's classes until HS collected by the class and it was $75.00 / family / teacher; in HS it has been the PA doing a collection that gets distributed amongst all the teachers and they ask for $50.00 / family. This is the first year I didn't contribute to the group collection, but it was because I wanted to get each teacher something special. Dd also made a plaque for her APCalc teacher in the iLab that reads "I love math" written in Mandarin, made on the 3D printer and hand painted. Her teacher LOVED it and hung it in her classroom. I think $50.00 / teacher is VERY generous from your son and I'm sure the teachers will be thrilled. They also really appreciate hand-written thank you notes.

 

[palhockeymomof2]

Ok, I am still debating this teacher gift situation. I have a Ghiradelli bag of chocolates for all of DS’s teachers (9 of them). His specials I was thinking a $10 GC and his other teachers $50 GCs. Too little for private school? I have no idea what the expectation is. I did hand write a thank you note to all of them.

My kids are 32 and 29...so things seem to have changed a lot...back then the class moms collected maybe $5 and bought something for the teachers...same when my kids when to a private prep school, I didn’t know anyone who gave individual cash/gift cards
But I live on LI where the teachers make $100k + you are a way better person than I am.. No way would give each teacher $50

 

[smmco]

My experience has been that DL is a “locals” park, meaning when AP’s aren’t blocked it’s still busier than one would expect because of all the locals. We actually prefer to go Memorial weekend, and even Summer time when the pass holders are blocked. I think WDW always “feels busier” to me but mostly I think that’s due to the fast pass set up in WDW. Maxpass at DL is PHENOMENAL compared to fastpass at WDW. Even with perceived higher crowds at DL you can accomplish so much more with Maxpass.

With all that said I think that time of year would be fine. But I would expect it to be busier than you might imagine. Also they do “grad nights” in May-June which causes a huge influx of kids. It’s never bothered us, but does some people.

Hopefully others will chime in

Thank you. I hate FP+. I feel like I can't ride anything without a fast pass. We used to get to the parks at rope drop and knock out at least 6 rides the first couple of hours. I was checking wait times yesterday at DL on a Sunday at 3pm and the new Starwars ride was only 55 minutes. The longest wait was the Cars ride at 90 minutes.
There is a grad night on our trip its Friday night. We arrive on Tuesday. I figure we'll hit the parks hard on Wednesday and Thursday which are supposed to be slowest days of the week and then do our favs on Friday. We normally don't stay in the parks at night. I prefer having a nice dinner and relaxing. I actually grew up in Anaheim and could see the fireworks every night so fireworks aren't a big deal to me. As a kid our Disneyland trips were day trips. WDW feels like more of a vacation to me, but I'm excited to go back to DL it's been seven 7 years.
I booked the Hyatt house through Disneyland. The contracted rates through Disney at the newer convention hotels were cheaper than booking separately.

 

[PolyRob]

I am hopelessly behind after visiting WDW so it looks like the news thread will come to my rescue! Still trying to catch-up while I can. Don't be alarmed by "reactions" from posts dating a week back

 

[Albort]

There's a couple of long threads about this on Flyer talk. Interesting to read.

Flyertalk user: what is the Graavy Train?

 

[smmco]

Flyertalk user: what is the Graavy Train?

I think it's for people that used mailers to get multiple AA Citibank cards with sign up bonuses. Many of them set up fake Advantage accounts.

 

[IFlossU]

[

I was checking wait times yesterday at DL on a Sunday at 3pm and the new Starwars ride was only 55 minutes. The longest wait was the Cars ride at 90 minutes.

And see when we go to DL we think those are crazy wait times because we can pretty easily get 1 or 2 fastpasses for RSR in day, and not wait more than 15 minutes Millennium Falcon didn’t have fastpass last visit and was by far our longest wait of 45 minutes. My kids are quite spoiled by Maxpass now, and think it’s completely out of the question to wait longer than 30 minutes for any ride. It sounds like you’re going into it with a great attitude and plan of attack.

 

[PolyRob]

If you must know, I've been hanging out pm'ing with a DISchurner

What time is @PolyRob getting to DHS?

Oh whew there you are. Were you raiding the fridge again?? You know how @Haley R hates it when you eat all of her pickles!!!

I’ve heard a rumor that @PolyRob is waking up at 4:20qm

No pickles tonight but I did have a bowl of cereal. I can't remember the last time I ate cereal but it sounded good tonight. Special K with almond milk. It was oddly satisfying. Does @Haley R like pickles or not?? I can't remember. Someone made a recipe with pickles that had cream cheese and ham, maybe?? I'd try it.

Our plane leaves at 6:05am on Thursday morning so we have to leave the house at 3am. Not sure I'll bother going to sleep that night! Hopefully @PolyRob is sleeping now!

HAHAH Just got up to this point! I can 100% confirm I did fall asleep, wake up at 4:20am, and secure the first boarding group that morning at DHS

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