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

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@wendow and any other TAs, what is a reasonable response time for a TA? I'm still waiting for a response to an email I sent August 2nd so I resubmitted it yesterday. I was thinking 3 working days? Ideally less but understanding that people have lives.
2 business days for a first inquiry imho so I’d move on. Even if the TA is out of the office they can turn on an auto-reply service. With a TA you need to know you can contact them quick when it hits the fan down the road. There are lots of TAs out there :)
 
Good point; thank you.

As far as ONLY the cardholder getting to use breakfast/lounge, I am of course going by what the fine print says. I have zero personal knowledge. But I would hate to get there and find out that particular perk can't be used!
Not been following this closely but which hotel in Japan? A quick look at the Hilton app shows Diamond continental breakfast at Conrad hotels says for you and one guest. ETA when I stayed at Hilton in Podunk, IL breakfast was free for DS, DH, and me. Plus we got to park in the special “Diamond member” parking spot. Lol

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I just read on a Chase Facebook group that the SW Performance Business 80k signup bonus will be around until October 16. Has anyone else heard that date being thrown around? Assuming that date is accurate, what do y’all suggest as far as when I should apply (side note - my primary reason for getting this card is to get a companion pass)? I know that I don’t want to meet my minimum spend until after January, so I will only have a couple of weeks of wiggle room to make the timing work out just right. Does my three months start running on application or approval? Thanks for any advice!
 
I love nutter butters but now I have to find the fudge covered ones! And, I have this weird feeling when I spend for something extra when I'm doing a deal - like yesterday when I was buying pop tarts with my Visa cards - felt like I was watching the profit disappear. Does anyone else get that feeling? I have no problem spending money separately for whatever I feel like buying - just don't like it to take away from the deal at the moment.
They were delicious.
Yes when I add something to my GCs to avoid “round numbers” I feel like I’m negating any saving. Last time I did get a pack of gum and still came out at $198 for $200 VGC so that was ok.
Well, yeah that would be awkward to haul around the bathroom scale on vacation.
At the Marriott in Vancouver, we called the front desk and asked if they had a luggage scale. They sent up a bathroom scale so I got to see how much I gained on the cruise before I even got home.
 


I just read on a Chase Facebook group that the SW Performance Business 80k signup bonus will be around until October 16. Has anyone else heard that date being thrown around? Assuming that date is accurate, what do y’all suggest as far as when I should apply (side note - my primary reason for getting this card is to get a companion pass)? I know that I don’t want to meet my minimum spend until after January, so I will only have a couple of weeks of wiggle room to make the timing work out just right. Does my three months start running on application or approval? Thanks for any advice!
It's truly undetermined at this point what will happen with that bonus. It could remain at that level after 10/16 (despite saying it will expire then) or it could decrease. Chase rarely changes offers (unlike Amex) so it's a complete unknown at this time.

I would recommend you read the SW CP post I wrote on DISchurners and then see if you have any more questions. It's in the "Advanced Strategies" thread.
 


Ok so MR... how easy are they to spend/transfer?Does the $100 hotel credit in the gold work well for most people?
MRs are a great conundrum. They are hard to cash out for a decent value without also getting a Schwab Platinum card. They have many uses for travel but I'm not the expert in that. They do have transfer partners that may or may not work for you. Some people love them, others are meh on them.

I cash mine out for Home Depot gift cards (which I'm sure pains some people to see, lol). It's a hard one to give a clear answer on because there are A LOT of possibilities. They don't seem as straightforward as Chase URs to most people. I think transfer partners is typically the best (i.e. most lucrative) use from what I recall reading though.

I believe this is an accurate transfer partner list:
  • Aeromexico 1:1.6
  • Air Canada (Aeroplan) 1:1
  • Air France KLM (Flying Blue) 1:1
  • Alitalia (Millemiglia) 1:1
  • All Nippon Airways 1:1
  • Cathay Pacific (Asia Miles) 1:1
  • British Airways 250:200
  • Delta Air Lines (SkyMiles) 1:1
  • El Al Israel Airlines 1,000: 20
  • Emirates 1:1
  • Etihad Airways 1:1
  • Hawaiian Airlines 1:1
  • Iberia Plus 250: 200
  • JetBlue Airways 250: 200
  • Singapore Airlines 1:1
  • Virgin America 200: 100
  • Virgin Atlantic Airways 1:1
  • Choice Privileges Rewards (1:1)
  • Hilton Honors (1:1.5)
 
Well, I think the Hilton Aspire may not work out for me after all. Keeping in mind that the ONLY reason I would get such a card is for my Japan stay in November 2020:

  • The 5th night free is only on a 4 night stay booked completely with points, and even at the "low" of 66K points per night that I saw last week (looking at this coming November for a general idea), that would be 264K points. Even if, between me and P2, we managed to acquire 2 cards and get their SUBs (probably one at 150K and another at 125K), there is no way we can continue to meet a healthy spend on 2 Amex cards while still trying to meet MSRs for other needed things. So I don't see us being able to even book the first 4 nights on points in order to take advantage of the 5th night free while we are still working on Chase URs to take care of the other hotels (the flights should be taken care of in the next month).
  • And, just for kicks, I tried to go to November 2020, which is, of course, not available yet (to try to see about points). Since it will only accept up to one year out, I changed to search to something like September 15-18, 2020. It says they are SOLD OUT for those dates. I kept going "one week earlier" and finally found availability... in August 2020. I am very concerned about this lack of availability in September, which is after the Olympics are over.
Can any Amex and/or Hilton experts share any thoughts on this? It's perfectly OK for the advice to be "stick with Chase and book at this hotel with URs like you originally planned." It certainly is not going to kill me to not be a Diamond member and get the perks. But now I am worried about there being any rooms at all, whether with cash, URs, or HH points.

Oh and ETA: The Diamond benefits are only for the primary cardholder, so I guess my husband couldn't have breakfast with me or go into the lounge with me... so that doesn't help either!

There. I think I just talked myself out of it for good!

No reason not to go for a couple of Hilton cards. The no fee card, the business card. There are 3 personal Hilton credit cards and one business card. It's more than enough to get you all the points you need. The breakfast benefit normally applies to the card holder and a guest. The $250 credit can be doubled dipped since it is card anniversary year if you are more than a year out from your trip. If you got the card now, your card anniversary would be September. You could make a pre-payment on your reservation for "accounting purposes" pay for one night as long as it is not the advance booking rate and get the credit. Then next September your credit would be available again and can be used to pay for another night or possibly park tickets. The free weekend night would post about 8 weeks after you get the card so you could book a Friday, Saturday or Sunday night.

I'm booking for a Northern Ireland and Ireland trip next year. I have secured 4 nights at Ashford Castle in Ireland but I don't have anything booked for our first few days in Northern Ireland because one of the hotel I'm looking hasn't released any point bookings yet. The other isn't one I can book with points but hasn't released availability to book yet. Looking at the Hilton website it appears that they have only released availability through the end of August. There are no Hilton properties of any variety/brand with availability in the month of September within a 50 mile radius of Tokyo Bay. So I'm guessing they have not released the dates to book yet. :-)

Anyhow, my view point of course will be biased because I have the card and I am actively working on getting a second one of the same card and so is DH so we will have 4 between us. Thanks to this card we stayed in over-water bungalows on points in the Maldives which were over $1200 per night and were able to use the Diamond benefit to save a lot on food because it included breakfast and happy hour. The resort credit allowed us to pay for the absurdly ridiculously priced flights to get to the island. Those prices now seen reasonable compared to the yacht ride that @*WDW*Groupie* will be taking for her transportation to the WA in the Maldives which is also in my future plans.

so.... all this chatter about Bonvoy keep/cancel/PC..... P2 has Amex Bonvoy Biz.... 95 AF (is it supposed to be 125?) stupid free night I'll have to struggle to find a use for.....(spoiled churn problems)...... WWYD? I'm thinking just cancel since I can't PC this to anything,right? My only concern is all of our (not) massive points are in P2's Bonvoy acct (saving to use for a couple of future nights at WDW) do I NEED this card for anything? Anything at all? I'm leaning towards getting rid of it to save on the AF. input please.
Well if you struggle to find a use for then I'd cancel. So far, I have always been able to find a use for each of the FN certs. We shall see how that pans out now that peak pricing has come into play.

@havaneselover @calypso726 @tink1970

Does Garnet Hill send a shipping update email? I received my order confirmation but nothing else. Thanks!

All I got was the order confirmation email. But when I checked the status of the order online it says it shipped today and has a UPS tracking number.

I haven't even had my Aspire a year and I know it's a keeper for me. Between the SUBs for the Aspire and the biz I acquired 275,000 points. I was able to transfer over the points dh had in his account to mine (wasn't that many but I can't remember the exact amount). He put all of his Cdn staff up at the Embassy Suites in Boca for a weekend in December for the past 2 years for his annual holiday party and I got the hotel to allot me all those points. Then I was able to purchase points at a 100% bonus for the remaining nights for my 6 nights at the WA Maldives (that was a sweet deal when Hilton was offering it). You can also use the $250.00 credit to purchase your park tickets (I believe @calypso726 accomplished this I think?). I was able to offset the cost of our boat transfer for the Maldives with the $250.00 credit (will use the credit again next year at the WA Maldives), so you can definitely get creative with it. What I am trying to say is, don't shy away from the card because IMO it has some of the best benefits available on a card (I think it blows the bonblah out of the water).

Preach. I wasn't the one that charged park tickets but I did ask about it and that is part of my plan for when we go back again in 2022.

I don't like pop tarts. I have a sweet tooth, but they're just too sweet for me. And since I'm an "outlier" I have to watch every bite that I consume because the lbs really start to creep up once you pass a certain age

Yup, I probably gained 5 pounds just reading the pop tarts and snack posts here.
 
@ten6mom I agree with @calypso726 there really isn’t a harm in going for the Hilton points. If you never go for an Amex you are still in a worse spot than having gotten a few cards and then getting the pop-up. Makes no sense to avoid the whole lineup just in fear of future denial! Also you could take your time meeting the MSRs and then just make sure to whip it out for some groceries here or there, but again if you don’t feel inclined to Amex’s offerings anyway why not take tjem for a few hundred thousand Hilton points before worrying about popups!
 
Not been following this closely but which hotel in Japan? A quick look at the Hilton app shows Diamond continental breakfast at Conrad hotels says for you and one guest. ETA when I stayed at Hilton in Podunk, IL breakfast was free for DS, DH, and me. Plus we got to park in the special “Diamond member” parking spot. Lol

View attachment 437251
Looking at the Tokyo Bay.

I did (finally) find Flyertalk and from what I am reading (not at that particular hotel), Diamond folks usually do seem to get the breakfast and lounge access for their spouse/roommate as well. So that is encouraging!
 
No reason not to go for a couple of Hilton cards. The no fee card, the business card. There are 3 personal Hilton credit cards and one business card. It's more than enough to get you all the points you need. The breakfast benefit normally applies to the card holder and a guest. The $250 credit can be doubled dipped since it is card anniversary year if you are more than a year out from your trip. If you got the card now, your card anniversary would be September. You could make a pre-payment on your reservation for "accounting purposes" pay for one night as long as it is not the advance booking rate and get the credit. Then next September your credit would be available again and can be used to pay for another night or possibly park tickets. The free weekend night would post about 8 weeks after you get the card so you could book a Friday, Saturday or Sunday night.

I'm booking for a Northern Ireland and Ireland trip next year. I have secured 4 nights at Ashford Castle in Ireland but I don't have anything booked for our first few days in Northern Ireland because one of the hotel I'm looking hasn't released any point bookings yet. The other isn't one I can book with points but hasn't released availability to book yet. Looking at the Hilton website it appears that they have only released availability through the end of August. There are no Hilton properties of any variety/brand with availability in the month of September within a 50 mile radius of Tokyo Bay. So I'm guessing they have not released the dates to book yet. :-)

Anyhow, my view point of course will be biased because I have the card and I am actively working on getting a second one of the same card and so is DH so we will have 4 between us. Thanks to this card we stayed in over-water bungalows on points in the Maldives which were over $1200 per night and were able to use the Diamond benefit to save a lot on food because it included breakfast and happy hour. The resort credit allowed us to pay for the absurdly ridiculously priced flights to get to the island. Those prices now seen reasonable compared to the yacht ride that @*WDW*Groupie* will be taking for her transportation to the WA in the Maldives which is also in my future plans.
Thank you (and to all the others) that are helping me with the fine details of the benefits of this card!!!

I hope you're right on dates simply not being released yet. It let me select those dates on the calendar... dates beyond September 19 are "grayed out." It was very odd.

That's an interesting point about double dipping the credit because I was sort of wondering if that would work out for me. I think I should push back the application date though, because at the moment I have no plans to hang onto the card past my trip. Like I'd be cancelling it around December 2020, most likely. Right now my travel plans stop at Japan! Not to say that couldn't change in the next year, of course...

I was originally planning on 4 days at this Hilton anyway. If I booked 4, on points, I get a 5th "free". Do I book all 5 of those together (when I have the points) and it automatically takes one off, or do I book 4 and then have to call someone to add the 5th?

When I add the free weekend night (after they send me an email or something), I believe that has to be made as a one-night separate reservation. Then I call the hotel (?) and ask them to combine that night with my other 5... right?

So now I am up to 6 nights, for the "price" of 4 nights' worth of points. Am I understanding that correctly? Because I was going to book a separate hotel in Tokyo proper for a couple nights, but if I can get 2 more nights for "free" even if it's farther from city center, that's pretty cool!

And I should be able to charge the park tickets to my room with the assistance of the guest services manager, thereby making use of the resort credit. Because let's be honest- if breakfast is included under my "status," there won't be many other things I'll be charging to the room!
 
Got a letter of card changes from Amex for my Plat... and mention of the fee renewal next month. I'll be canceling soon.

Interestingly - there's language about "limits on person to person transactions" and it is tiered by the card type. Like a Gold card can transfer $2k a month but a plat allows $4k. I assume this is to slowdown gaming of Venmo-like transactions?

"We decide wether to approve a charge, including cash advances subject to Limits on Cash Advances and person to person transactions subject to Limits on Person to Person transactions - based on how you spend and pay on this Account and other accounts you have with us and our Affiliates. We also consider you credit history and your personal resources that we know about."
 
Looking at the Tokyo Bay.

I did (finally) find Flyertalk and from what I am reading (not at that particular hotel), Diamond folks usually do seem to get the breakfast and lounge access for their spouse/roommate as well. So that is encouraging!

We stayed at a Hilton in Newcastle, England in August. I am the Diamond member by virtue of my Aspire. We had 2 rooms for the 4 of us. All 4 of us across both rooms got the free breakfast, and we all had access to the executive lounge.
 
Amex Plat closure data point: called in to close my personal Amex Plat now that the annual fee came due. I was offered 30K MR or $300 statement credit after $4K spend. If I could take advantage of the airline credit I might be tempted but since it’s gotten harder to use I passed. Now I have MRs that are stuck and can’t be transferred since I only have a no fee blue card. Not a huge deal as I plan to go for the Gold at some point (if I don’t get a pop up). Does anyone know if the BBP allows MR transfers to travel partners?
 
We stayed at a Hilton in Newcastle, England in August. I am the Diamond member by virtue of my Aspire. We had 2 rooms for the 4 of us. All 4 of us across both rooms got the free breakfast, and we all had access to the executive lounge.

I didn’t have diamond so not as good of a datapoint but I had gold from my Amex Plat and booked 2 rooms under my account number. Both received the $50/day resort credit and received upgraded rooms and free water at the Waldorf Astoria in Vegas.
 
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