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

[have2getaway]

We are planning to be at Portofino Bay over President's Day weekend as well. Just debating upgrading to club level, but not sure it is worth an extra $375. We are celebrating our youngest's 18th birthday.

How exciting for your youngest! What a fun way to turn 18. We went back-and-forth about Club and, to be honest, I’m not sure it’s worth it either, but I think we just like the idea of being able to get up and get coffee and eat breakfast before venturing off and having to wait for food. We are also thinking we may be spending more time at the resort this trip.

 

[Judique]

@DisneyMountainWoman - I agree with @Judique- other cards will give you better returns. In addition to what she posted - Discover cash back will give you 5% cash back on grocery store purchases jan - march 2020. If this card is in its first year they will double that and you can get 10% cash back. april-june will be 5% back on wholesale clubs (BJs), july-sept will be paypal (shop disney), and the last quarter will be walmart.com and target.com.

I am sure there are many other strategies that will yield better returns vs. the Disney Premier.

@trenty - I've never had a Discover card. Hope they keep this promo going because it's on my radar for end of next year once I get to 0/24.

 

[trenty]

@trenty - I've never had a Discover card. Hope they keep this promo going because it's on my radar for end of next year once I get to 0/24.

I earned almost $700 cash back my first year. I use the cash back for travel-related expenses (sometimes DVC dues when I don't earn enough free cards), rental cars, etc. I also use the cash back to pay my one card with an annual fee each year.

 

[Judique]

I guess I should have said, but I did apply for it as sole prop in my name. We don’t have our rental business as an LLC/EIN, so I didn’t even try the other way. I was honest with everything though...in business since 2012, $25k income, real estate section, private home rentals, etc

Looks like your app sounded so good to them that they got nosy. I have Amex breathing down my back over one business card - they want to build my business and are constantly sending me correspondence regarding that card.

 

[have2getaway]

In a few months, I will be hitting my one year anniversary for my CSR. I’m starting to debate if we should keep it or not? We are using points this time for a trip to Universal Studios, but we are considering the possibility of starting to cash in the points we earn and save them for a Disney trip. I really wish Disney resorts were available on the Chase UR portal. For those who cash in the points, does it make sense to keep the Chase Sapphire Reserve? Is there anything I’m overlooking regarding its value? Just don’t want to pay the fee if we won’t get enough use out of it? Also, can we receive the annual $300 travel credit and still have the annual fee prorated it if we opt to product change it to something else?

 

[IFlossU]

I used the Amex $15/$30 & 4x MR Sam's Club offer to buy a $50 Disney GC but I didn't get the "congrats" email. Is this normal? I feel like the same thing happened when I bought the membership with one of their offers but I can't remember

I made my Sam’s purchase on Friday and no email from Amex here either. Also haven’t seen the credit.

 

[DisneyMountainWoman]

I have 3 credit cards. Disney premiere and Chase Sapphire reserve. The CHR was recommended by my mother in law who does the whole credit card points thing. This is my first time really diving into it. My 3rd is USAA credit card that I had since high school. I use that now is my emergency credit card.

 

[Alexle2007]

What hotels did you pick?

I'm curious too, even though I think we only overlap with Sydney

@LuckyMamaInDE I think you are correct since this for the Brisbane and Cairns portion of our trip.

Qantas F class (LAX-SYD) - 488.4k (transferred 407k MR using 20% bonus) or $29209
United J Class (SYD-LAX-ORD (Econ)-BWI (Econ))- 240k (transferred 234k UR) or $21088

Sheraton Grand Mirage Resort, Port Douglas (Cairns)- 5 nights- 140k or $1298
Sheraton Grand Mirage Resort, Gold Coast (Brisbane)- 5 nights- 130k or $1296

I am hoping to use my suite nights for the Gold Coast. It’s low season so I am hopeful it will be go through.

The Park Hyatt Sydney (3 nights) will be 90k but has the best value at $2303.

Flight from SYD to Cairns in business- 60k (Biz)
Flight from Cairns to Brisbane- 30k (Econ)
Flight from Brisbane to SYD- 30k (Econ)

Using xx miles for these flights

I still have to figure out:
Arrival day hotel in SYD
Cairns area hotel for flight to BNE (it’s an early flight and Port Douglas is kind of far out)
Departure night to US SYD hotel near airport (9:30 am flight and want to take advantage of airport lounge)

Oh, and I still have a flight from BWI to LAX and pre-SYD hotel to figure out.

 

[jhoannam]

I guess I should have said, but I did apply for it as sole prop in my name. We don’t have our rental business as an LLC/EIN, so I didn’t even try the other way. I was honest with everything though...in business since 2012, $25k income, real estate section, private home rentals, etc

Is $25K all of your income or just your business income? You should include ALL your household income.

 

[Haley R]

Anybody seen @Haley R today? Major power out in Ohio. Bad storms.

Haha we’re in Iowa. Right now it’s just showing wind so hopefully that won’t be too big of an issue. Before my family moved to Iowa when I was a kid everyone always said “when are you moving to Idaho? When are you moving to Ohio?”

 

[Limes96]

I get those states confused so you are probably correct!

Yes, Haley is in Iowa. I’m in Ohio but still have power. It flickered briefly early this morning but it’s on. If I remember right, I think @GlamMistress is in Dayton? Not positive but I think so. There’s a lot of power out down there.

 

[castormom4]

Is $25K all of your income or just your business income? You should include ALL your household income.

oh no, household income is much higher. It’s been while but I think it asks for both separately. Regardless I answered it truthfully.

 

[Judique]

I have 3 credit cards. Disney premiere and Chase Sapphire reserve. The CHR was recommended by my mother in law who does the whole credit card points thing. This is my first time really diving into it. My 3rd is USAA credit card that I had since high school. I use that now is my emergency credit card.

You have some decent cards. In my opinion, other than the sign up bonus (and hopefully you got a $200 value on that) the Disney card is the least of them. But, it's the best card you have right now for a Disney card purchase at your grocery store combined with the gas points.

If you were buying Disney cards elsewhere, the recommendation could be different. There is a lot to learn here and you've got a good start. Hopefully you've made the most out of your $300 travel credit on the CSR and are either using those UR points or have them earmarked for a good redemption. Stay with it and you'll get some great rewards.

Edit: keep that USAA card. It's great for credit history and probably has a low interest rate if you ever get in the situation where you can't pay in full monthly.

 

[StephPlum]

A 3 or maybe 4 month free trial came with my Niro. I just got an email about expiration which I haven't opened. The trial probably started last couple days in October so probably expires end of January.

I haven't even set it up. I've been spammed with emails from them. Really hasn't been on my mind. I actually turned it on once for a few minutes, but turned it off because my mind was elsewhere.

Maybe I'll give them a call and see if they will extend my 'free' for another period, so I can explore it when I'm traveling in February. I had no idea what it cost but if I find it worth it in Feb when I'm traveling alone, maybe I'll keep it. Living around here, my mind is not on radio. It's more on staying alive while driving in town or on the Beltway. Once I am south of Richmond, Va, driving relaxes and is so easy until reaching I-4 West toward Disney.

I just got a new car and have the free trial. You just missed the Holly station - Christmas music all the time. Today I got in the car and it is some type of rock New Year's Eve music ☹. That's ok, Pandora has Christmas stations you can play all year if you like.

Now that Christmas music is over, I'll go back to listening to audio books. That helps pass the time better on my commute that regular radio or Sirius.

 

[StephPlum]

Two CC related items.

1. Slightly happy my dishwasher died this weekend as we could use an AMEX offer at Lowes and help make a big dent in MSR in DH's latest card. Before CC, I would not have been happy about a big, unplanned expense.

2. Sat in my car at Costco this morning while I looked up the 5% categories on my CF as I could not remember if gas stations were 4Q or 1Q. They are 1Q. Had to make sure I used the best card for point earnings. I am sure the attendant wondered why I was sitting there for a while before pumping gas!

 

[StephPlum]

Ohio here. It was pretty windy this morning but we were luck and didn't lose power. Spotty outages here in central Ohio. It has started getting colder though. First time in a week I have had to put on more than a hoody as a coat/jacket. Needed my winter jacket with a hat and gloves. Brrr. May have snow on Tuesday.

 

[DaveL]

I made my Sam’s purchase on Friday and no email from Amex here either. Also haven’t seen the credit.

I recently did two Amex offers, one at Olive Garden togo counter for a GC and I got an email about the offer before the lady even handed me my card back then about an hour later I did the SAMs online offer and have not gotten any emails about it. However, I seem to recall last year I had the same two offers (New Membership and $ off $) added to my card and they credited the wrong one a month or two later and then applied the second one a month after that...

 

[DisneyMountainWoman]

It may be your personal best strategy right now, but since we don't know what other credit cards you have or how many Disney cards (amount of purchase) you are going to buy, it's hard to say.

There are cards out there that give 6 points (Amex MR points) or 4 points (again Amex). I also have a card that gives 2 cents per dollar and I would do this card before the Disney card as it's actual money.

The gas discounts are usually a good strategy, yes. I wait until there is a 'special' to get gas points and then use the best card I have. I cherry pick the specials. Now if I need the Disney cards right away, as in leaving tomorrow, then I'm going to get whatever is best last minute.

You have some decent cards. In my opinion, other than the sign up bonus (and hopefully you got a $200 value on that) the Disney card is the least of them. But, it's the best card you have right now for a Disney card purchase at your grocery store combined with the gas points.

If you were buying Disney cards elsewhere, the recommendation could be different. There is a lot to learn here and you've got a good start. Hopefully you've made the most out of your $300 travel credit on the CSR and are either using those UR points or have them earmarked for a good redemption. Stay with it and you'll get some great rewards.

Edit: keep that USAA card. It's great for credit history and probably has a low interest rate if you ever get in the situation where you can't pay in full monthly.

Using the 300 credit for trip to Dominican republic for my sister in laws wedding in Jan. The original plan when we got the cards to start saving for travel points is to put everything on the Sapphire card and just put gas, groceries, and disney on Disney card. Before this point I just used my usaa card (it has great low interest) and debt card for everything and did not care about points.

 

[striker1064]

@trenty - I've never had a Discover card. Hope they keep this promo going because it's on my radar for end of next year once I get to 0/24.

They've had it for a while I do believe. And the best part is, the double cash back is good for the entire 365 day period after you get the card, so you can actually capture 5 quarterly 5% categories this way - apply in the middle of, say, November, and you'll be able to double the 5% for the rest of Q4Y1, plus Q1Y2, Q2Y2, Q3Y2, and a month and a half of Q4Y2.

 

[havaneselover]

On the Sirius topic, I’m visiting my parents and may lose it if my mom keeps playing 50s on 5! Heading up to Orlando tonight