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

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

If either of you have not yet opened a vanilla Plat/Gold charge card with Amex, the Resy offers are good: https://resy.com/amex-offers

Hm, I was going to get an Amex Gold in August. DH's link had been giving me an elevated offer. Now I'll have to see if the Resy offer is better with that $250 back at restaurants.

 

[mom2febgirls]

Can I PC my AMEX Plat to an AMEX Gold if I already have one or do I need to cancel my existing Gold first?

 

[calypso726]

Has that really been a thing? I’ve got 6 Staples and 2 OD in my area, plus I’ve visited several while traveling and have never had an issue. Most I’ve had is the clerk wanting to see my ID to confirm it matched the name on my credit card.

Well it has been for DH who, let’s just say has a better tan than I do. We have locations that always tell him he can only buy them with cash if he’s alone. If I go alone I can always buy with a credit card at these locations. The only time he is able to do the same is if I get in line and go first, and then he comes up right after me.

 

[iujen94]

Well it has been for DH who, let’s just say has a better tan than I do. We have locations that always tell him he can only buy them with cash if he’s alone. If I go alone I can always buy with a credit card at these locations. The only time he is able to do the same is if I get in line and go first, and then he comes up right after me.

Wow. WOW. That is awful.

 

[reliev]

Thoughts on the privacy downsides? I don't like the idea of Mint/Intuit having every detail of my financial info, but it is attractive to have it all in one place

I canceled mint because it's reactive, not proactive also you have to agree to give them your information for them to pitch you things I also deleted my data done with them. Im a ynab user.

 

[reliev]

Has anyone used Turo for a car rental? We're going to Boise for a wedding this fall and need a car that will hold 5 adults - turo is running at least $100 cheaper for the 3 days that we'll need it.

I just wondered if there's anything about needing additional insurance? Can DH and I both drive the car?

Thanks for any information or advice!

I use Turo all the time only one bad experience where a guy tried to tell me that it was going to hurt his rental me not returning a car charged I had screen shots turns out Turo denied his claim (was an electric car all chargers were closed on the 4th) other then that all have been great experiences one guy kept asking me about his car I thought this was weird. I don't trust Hertz after the horror stories but ill use it if I can't get Turo, or if the price is dramatically different.

 

[newski_mom]

Thanks for the comments on Turo. I chatted with my insurance and this is what they told me:

So, it makes me feel good about the insurance other than the loss of use part. I'm not sure how the chase and other coverages deal with that either to be honest.

I'll probably go with Turo because I do like the fact that you can choose exactly the kind of car that you will be driving. With the AmEx extra discount, it's a really good deal to get a nice car.

 

[elgerber]

Well it has been for DH who, let’s just say has a better tan than I do. We have locations that always tell him he can only buy them with cash if he’s alone. If I go alone I can always buy with a credit card at these locations. The only time he is able to do the same is if I get in line and go first, and then he comes up right after me.

Wow, just wow. Do you ever call them out on it? Let him go first, then come up after the fact with yours? That's just disgusting.

 

[afan]

For the 5 fnc marriott bonus, how long did it take to see the fnc in your activity?

I do see this week that the night from hitting the 5k spend has hit as it's up to 16 from the 15 you get for having the card.

I hate that they don't show the fnc on the android app and you have to go on to their website. I also find Hilton and hyatts activity/reward parts of their websites better and easier to read.

 

[leeniewdw]

I admire everyone who uses YNAB - I'm an accountant, so love and work with numbers all day and I didn't have the energy to use it. I will say, I use mint much more as a tracker than for budgeting. I'm frugal by nature, so I feel like if I'm spending it, it needs to be spent, so I've never budgeted in the traditional way.

I VERY rarely enter my transactions manually, so I just do the import each day (or almost every day) so it doesn't take much time. That's how I knew about the odd $139 from Amazon. I like to think I'm frugal, but I'm probably not as much as I'd pretend, so having buckets of expenses allocated and letting YNAB tell me if I'm depleting something just works for me -- ESPECIALLY dealing with more CCs since I've gotten into travel hacking. I actually tried YNAB once and was like "what?" and then a few years later it just clicked for me. One nice thing is having 5 years of expenses tracked because we are now mostly retired and it helped to see how we've been spending our money and be able to toggle things on or off (like our mortgage and college expenses) from the reporting.

I always put the purchase of the gift cards in my vacation category for YNAB. If I have a balance on the gift card I keep a separate note, but I do not put transactions down for those seeing as I already put it under a category once before

I don't buy a ton of GCs but this is what I do. Vacation, Dining Out, whatever it'll be used for.

I recall reading about how some people create an "account" for GCs they've purchased and then budgeted them if they plan to use them for a variety of things. I don't MS, so my GC usage is pretty straightforward.

 

[reliev]

I VERY rarely enter my transactions manually, so I just do the import each day (or almost every day) so it doesn't take much time. That's how I knew about the odd $139 from Amazon. I like to think I'm frugal, but I'm probably not as much as I'd pretend, so having buckets of expenses allocated and letting YNAB tell me if I'm depleting something just works for me -- ESPECIALLY dealing with more CCs since I've gotten into travel hacking. I actually tried YNAB once and was like "what?" and then a few years later it just clicked for me. One nice thing is having 5 years of expenses tracked because we are now mostly retired and it helped to see how we've been spending our money and be able to toggle things on or off (like our mortgage and college expenses) from the reporting.



I don't buy a ton of GCs but this is what I do. Vacation, Dining Out, whatever it'll be used for.

I recall reading about how some people create an "account" for GCs they've purchased and then budgeted them if they plan to use them for a variety of things. I don't MS, so my GC usage is pretty straightforward.

yep i haven't had to enter anything manually with ynab in probably 3 years i remember the old days though was a pita.

 

[IFlossU]

For the 5 fnc marriott bonus, how long did it take to see the fnc in your activity?

I do see this week that the night from hitting the 5k spend has hit as it's up to 16 from the 15 you get for having the card.

I hate that they don't show the fnc on the android app and you have to go on to their website. I also find Hilton and hyatts activity/reward parts of their websites better and easier to read.

I’m waiting for mine too. I finished the spend on June 28th. Statement closes tomorrow. Wondering if maybe they show up after that

 

[afan]

I’m waiting for mine too. I finished the spend on June 28th. Statement closes tomorrow. Wondering if maybe they show up after that

My statement closed on the 16th so I'm probably still too early.

 

[calypso726]

Wow. WOW. That is awful.

Yup it is. I mentioned the YMMV because the OP’s username leads me to believe that they and my DH share the same ethnicity.

 

[calypso726]

Wow, just wow. Do you ever call them out on it? Let him go first, then come up after the fact with yours? That's just disgusting.

Nope. The momentary freeze, eyes widening and slight discombobulation is far more amusing and satisfying to both of us. Follow that up with courtesy and gratitude. For me, kindness is the greatest weapon I possess that no one ever sees coming and is rarely defeated

 

[LilSweetPeaPhoto]

So how do you know you've picked the right guy for P2? I told my BF months ago I was going to have him do the Hilton FNC offer. He's getting sick of me making him get cards w/ AFs (I'm working on that, lol). So I told him he can get the Hilton Honors, no AF, $1000 spend, and we get the FNC (plus 70k which is like another free night in PDC). He told me he'd think about it. When we were in Vegas last week, he was asking about the cards and thinking about MAYBE doing the Surpass for the Gold Status. He decided against it, and told me to send him the link to apply when we got back. I sent him the link and told him how to do it (since the link went to the business cards). I reminded him once and he said "yeah yeah". Then he got a trip and was stuck in bad weather (meaning LONG DAYS). So I didn't remind him or harass him about it. When he landed Weds he came over to my house. It was 1am. He mentioned, is it too late to do the card? I said sadly "I think so". Then he laughed and said, good thing I did it before the trip, LOL. So I have 1 FNC. I'm working on earning my $15k FNC on my surpass. And he'll have 1 FNC. So there are our 3 nights in PDC in Feb already

Also my 18yo finished her app for the Discover It card. We used my link for $100 for her and me. She got approved w/ a $1500 limit. After seeing how her dad spends, I told her we're going to talk about proper uses of a CC. She said, don't worry mom, I'll only use the $100 and that's it. I spend more like you than dad, LOL. I told her it'll be good to do one smaller purchase just to keep it active and building on it.

So for those w/ kiddos, how often are you having them try to open a new CC? She's 18, and has a job at the ice cream dairy here. She'll be starting community college in Aug. She has no real expenses, thanks to us. So I don't think we'll be chasing SUBs for awhile.

 

[LilSweetPeaPhoto]

Oh and I wanted to ask....my free cruise w/ Holland offer expires soon (like tomorrow I think). The only cruise I could do would be over Christmas/NY. I was originally going to take my daughter on that, since I was planning on taking my son on the one next August. But they both begged for her to go on the August one.

My question is, in reading about Holland, it doesn't seem to be for younger crowds. If I'm booking over NY, would both my kids enjoy it? They are 14 and 18. I'm almost thinking this might be a "free cruise" I have to let go. I'd try and have my BF go, but there is no way he could get time off then (they bid vacation a year in advance) and he couldn't get that many days off anyways, LOL.

Anyone cruise Holland w/ teens? It would be the Caribbean though!

 

[SleepyatDVC]

So how do you know you've picked the right guy for P2? I told my BF months ago I was going to have him do the Hilton FNC offer. He's getting sick of me making him get cards w/ AFs (I'm working on that, lol). So I told him he can get the Hilton Honors, no AF, $1000 spend, and we get the FNC (plus 70k which is like another free night in PDC). He told me he'd think about it. When we were in Vegas last week, he was asking about the cards and thinking about MAYBE doing the Surpass for the Gold Status. He decided against it, and told me to send him the link to apply when we got back. I sent him the link and told him how to do it (since the link went to the business cards). I reminded him once and he said "yeah yeah". Then he got a trip and was stuck in bad weather (meaning LONG DAYS). So I didn't remind him or harass him about it. When he landed Weds he came over to my house. It was 1am. He mentioned, is it too late to do the card? I said sadly "I think so". Then he laughed and said, good thing I did it before the trip, LOL. So I have 1 FNC. I'm working on earning my $15k FNC on my surpass. And he'll have 1 FNC. So there are our 3 nights in PDC in Feb already

Also my 18yo finished her app for the Discover It card. We used my link for $100 for her and me. She got approved w/ a $1500 limit. After seeing how her dad spends, I told her we're going to talk about proper uses of a CC. She said, don't worry mom, I'll only use the $100 and that's it. I spend more like you than dad, LOL. I told her it'll be good to do one smaller purchase just to keep it active and building on it.

So for those w/ kiddos, how often are you having them try to open a new CC? She's 18, and has a job at the ice cream dairy here. She'll be starting community college in Aug. She has no real expenses, thanks to us. So I don't think we'll be chasing SUBs for awhile.

You have a keeper!

My oldest is now 24 and I just got her into the CC game. She did open her own Discover when she started college and that was her go to card for the last 6 years. She was AU on a bunch of our cards.

My youngest is 22 and also had her own Discover and she is AU on our cards. She will probably start as P2 for her sister soon...

Oh and I wanted to ask....my free cruise w/ Holland offer expires soon (like tomorrow I think). The only cruise I could do would be over Christmas/NY. I was originally going to take my daughter on that, since I was planning on taking my son on the one next August. But they both begged for her to go on the August one.

My question is, in reading about Holland, it doesn't seem to be for younger crowds. If I'm booking over NY, would both my kids enjoy it? They are 14 and 18. I'm almost thinking this might be a "free cruise" I have to let go. I'd try and have my BF go, but there is no way he could get time off then (they bid vacation a year in advance) and he couldn't get that many days off anyways, LOL.

Anyone cruise Holland w/ teens? It would be the Caribbean though!

Last time I took HAL my youngest was in a stroller!

But you know your kids best.

My girls are each other's company. We just did a 19 night Miami to Genoa, Italy cruise at the end of May and they were happy to just hang with each other and play games, etc. I think there were other young people on board on our FB roll call but they had no interest in seeking them out.

 

[DogCat]

I use Turo all the time only one bad experience where a guy tried to tell me that it was going to hurt his rental me not returning a car charged I had screen shots turns out Turo denied his claim (was an electric car all chargers were closed on the 4th) other then that all have been great experiences one guy kept asking me about his car I thought this was weird. I don't trust Hertz after the horror stories but ill use it if I can't get Turo, or if the price is dramatically different.

What are the Hertz horror stories? I just did a rental reservation through Chase travel and Hertz gave me the lowest rate so I booked them. Usually the lowest was Budget, Avis, or Enterprise and I never had any issues with any of them.

 

[georgina]

What are the Hertz horror stories? I just did a rental reservation through Chase travel and Hertz gave me the lowest rate so I booked them. Usually the lowest was Budget, Avis, or Enterprise and I never had any issues with any of them.

I'm guessing this - https://www.npr.org/2022/12/06/1140998674/hertz-false-accusation-stealing-cars-settlement

One of many examples. - In another instance, customer Nicholas Wright rented a car from Hertz with his family while on vacation in Savannah, Georgia in October 2021 and was falsely accused of theft. According to a lawsuit, 30 minutes after renting the car, 10 police cars surrounded the vehicle and held Wright and his 13-year old daughter at gunpoint for auto theft. “He learned the car had been reported stolen before he rented it,” the lawsuit said.