I love credit cards so much! v3.0 (see first page for add'l details)

[LoveGoldens]

Greetings!

I'm new to posting on the Dis, yet have been reading for a long time. I'm fascinated by the concept of better utilizing credit cards to earn free or greatly reduced travel. I've read this thread from time to time, and am amazed at how knowledgeable and welcoming you are!

I'd appreciate any help you can give to help get me started.

Here's my info - feel free to ask for clarification if helpful:

Credit cards approved in last 24 months: none (spouse and I have had all of our cards for quite a while)

Amount we could put monthly on cards: $2k
We pay off every month
Fly out of Minneapolis St Paul airport
Prefer Delta or Southwest Airlines due to their service at MSP. Not opposed to other airlines, though
Hotel preference: slight preference to Marriott and Hilton
Rewards programs: Enrolled with low balances in Delta, Southwest, Marriott, Hilton
Goals: Travel! We travel annually to Ft Myers, FL in March, and try for at least one or two additional trips each year. We are considering Canada this summer. Also -- DS may study abroad in Europe either Fall 2020 or Spring 2021, so will plan a trip to visit him. A river cruise in Europe is also on the near-term list.

 

[afan]

Saturday success! I've been periodically checking to see if either of the hyatt house's by DLR became available since they were sold out when I booked a few weeks ago. The one near Knott's had a king suite open tonight so I was able to switch from the lovely airport hotel for the same points. The cash value is more so it's a better redemption plus we get free breakfast. I'm good with where we are now, while it'd be nice to walk across the street I don't need to spend another 14k in points to do it. So we'll see how the priority airport lyft thing works in March

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Did you get the cash from Rakuten on your purchases? Mine tracked but then didn't pay out.

I did. $48.35 total on the 3 orders. I did really well with that one. My Big Fat Check is usually no more than $10-20. Next one is $148 Woo hoo, vacation funds!

 

[CyndiLouWho]

I had the same issue with the BJ's offer. They would not budge for me however. They would not give me the credit for either card. Not happy, gave them a piece of my mind and will be closing both cards anyways.

Did you send a screenshot? I logged into my BJs account and took a screenshot of the total transaction. It still took multiple tries. I’m just stubborn

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Also, on a personal note, since we’re all friends here, your thoughts and prayers would be appreciated for my family as my 90 year old grandma passed away this week. Her death wasn’t entirely unexpected as she’d had a number of health setbacks the last couple of months. Lots of family coming home for the weekend for the visiting and funeral. My son drove home (Ohio) from Nashville last night, narrowly missing the bad weather, which had me worried of course. We don’t have any major family conflicts (unusual these days!) so I expect this will be a comforting weekend of visiting, reminiscing, and mourning our loss.

I’m so sorry for your loss.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Greetings!

I'm new to posting on the Dis, yet have been reading for a long time. I'm fascinated by the concept of better utilizing credit cards to earn free or greatly reduced travel. I've read this thread from time to time, and am amazed at how knowledgeable and welcoming you are!

I'd appreciate any help you can give to help get me started.

Here's my info - feel free to ask for clarification if helpful:

Credit cards approved in last 24 months: none (spouse and I have had all of our cards for quite a while)

Amount we could put monthly on cards: $2k
We pay off every month
Fly out of Minneapolis St Paul airport
Prefer Delta or Southwest Airlines due to their service at MSP. Not opposed to other airlines, though
Hotel preference: slight preference to Marriott and Hilton
Rewards programs: Enrolled with low balances in Delta, Southwest, Marriott, Hilton
Goals: Travel! We travel annually to Ft Myers, FL in March, and try for at least one or two additional trips each year. We are considering Canada this summer. Also -- DS may study abroad in Europe either Fall 2020 or Spring 2021, so will plan a trip to visit him. A river cruise in Europe is also on the near-term list.

Welcome to the thread! Normally I'd drop you a quick PM invite to our DISchurners reddit group, but I can't do that since you have only made 1 message on the DIS so far. If you're interested in joining that group (where we have lots of guides and some of our best tips) just reply to me here and let me know.

As far as cards go, you have a ton of options. You might consider whether you have some side hustle that you could use to qualify for small business cards. Those are some of the best offers out there. If not, maybe the current all-time high Southwest Personal card offers would interest you. Since you are both 0/24, you have all the options in the world!

 

[CyndiLouWho]

you can also do delta or JetBlue for a triple-dip also. I do delta myself.

No JetBlue here and I’ve never flown Delta. I’ll have to remember that if I ever do.

Kind of churning related (but not really)....before Christmas Fresh Market (a smaller version of Whole Foods) had a promo when you purchase a $100.00 GC get $10.00 off a purchase between January 1 and January 26th. I redeemed the $10.00 slip of paper yesterday and the cashier handed it back to me and told me it is good for all purchases over $10.00 until January 26th. She said I can purchase $10.01 worth of groceries and just pay $0.01. I was back this morning and bought fresh fruit salad, 2 mangos and a protein drink for $2.94 (after the $10.00 off). I foresee many, many more visits to Fresh Market between now and January 26th !

Someone didn’t think that through very well. They are gonna lose a lot. I’m sure there a lot of people who will spend $50-100 every time they use the $10 off but then there are the rest of us. Lol

does anyone know if it's possible to have both the disney free card and the disney premier card at one time? I'm thinking about the premier card because the sign up bonus is great...but switching from the free version to the premier version is a bit of a bummer switch wise ($50 statement bonus)

There are better offers out there. Hang out here and you will see, ask questions if you need ideas. If you wait, Chase will probably offer $100 to upgrade.

 

[LoveGoldens]

Welcome to the thread! Normally I'd drop you a quick PM invite to our DISchurners reddit group, but I can't do that since you have only made 1 message on the DIS so far. If you're interested in joining that group (where we have lots of guides and some of our best tips) just reply to me here and let me know.

As far as cards go, you have a ton of options. You might consider whether you have some side hustle that you could use to qualify for small business cards. Those are some of the best offers out there. If not, maybe the current all-time high Southwest Personal card offers would interest you. Since you are both 0/24, you have all the options in the world!

Thanks for the welcome! I'd very much like to join the group. I noticed your recent post on the Southwest card offers - they sound intriguing.

And I'll work on some additional posts so I'm easier to communicate with!

 

[AmyAnne]

Adding to the chicken conversation--I think I am team Zaxbys > Chik-Fil-A but Chick-Fil-A > Popeye's.

DH and I were out running errands and decided to pick up dinner. I looked on the Grubhub app to see if we have gotten any new/better options. I don't think any are new and if they are, they didn't seem any better. DH took a look and saw that Popeye's is an option and said, "Isn't that the one Anthony Bourdain liked?" So we tried the chicken tenders. I have to say we were not impressed.

So Grubhub continues to be not a great benefit of the AmEx Gold. I have a more than sufficient stash of Cheesecake Factory gift cards and Shake Shack is somewhat better than Popeye's but not anything I'm super excited about. I think I'll try to put together a decent Boxed deal next month--I do have an offer on my Gold card so maybe with combining the offer with a discount code, the price of some paper goods might beat Costco.

 

[Alexle2007]

Is anyone else having issues adding their CP to SW flights? I am trying add DS and I checked and these flights are not sold out but I keep getting an error. Grrr....do I really need to call?

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Is anyone else having issues adding their CP to SW flights? I am trying add DS and I checked and these flights are not sold out but I keep getting an error. Grrr....do I really need to call?

Twitter

 

[WardFam]

They had given me that status sometime last year. I used it to get a match to Southwest A-list. That got me a great boarding number without paying, on the 1 flight I had during the promo period SW gave me. Ha. I’d see if you can get it matched anywhere on other airlines if it would benefit you.

Thank you so much for suggesting this! American Airlines gave me Platinum Pro status and today I was able to get it matched to Platinum Medallion status on Delta! We are flying to Shanghai in March for my 40th birthday and now we should automatically be upgraded to Comfort + and crossing my fingers for a first class upgrade 5 days before departure! This will definitely be my longest flight ever and it will be so nice to have some extra comfort. What an awesome 40th birthday present!

 

[LB002]

Catching up from earlier today, but did everyone see this? Another 20% Amex promo for using points up to $50 off!

https://slickdeals.net/f/13803299-a...s-get-20-off-max-discount-of-50?src=frontpage

I am a couple days behind, but thanks for posting this. I had it on my account!

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Thanks for the welcome! I'd very much like to join the group. I noticed your recent post on the Southwest card offers - they sound intriguing.

And I'll work on some additional posts so I'm easier to communicate with!

If you have a reddit account I just need your username. If not - you can register at Reddit.com and then just comment on the main thread with your name. We'll get you all setup there!

 

[Alexle2007]

Anyone have resort recommendations for the Ft. Myers/Sanibel Island area?

 

[tink1970]

We are flying to Shanghai in March for my 40th birthday and now we should automatically be upgraded to Comfort + and crossing my fingers for a first class upgrade 5 days before departure

Congrats on the status match but DL does not allow upgrades to their business product (Delta One) on long distance international flights unless you have submitted a GUC (global upgrade certificate) and there is available inventory. Only Diamond Sky Medallions can opt to receive GUCs as their tier reward.

 

[KPK02090]

Also, on a personal note, since we’re all friends here, your thoughts and prayers would be appreciated for my family as my 90 year old grandma passed away this week.

I will have you and your family in my prayers.
Very sorry for your loss.

 

[LB002]

This! I am really sad I can't work from home anymore because especially when I'm deep in the weeds of writing something I just need people to not be coming by my office!!

I hear you! I started a new job last month and I have to be in the office a lot more often. It is a lovey group of people, but SO SOCIAL and the LOVE meetings. I do research so I really need quiet so I can be head down reading, crunching and reporting out on stuff and I cannot be productive in that environment. I am actually excited that I am working Monday and no one else will be around (I am subbing MLK day, a company holiday, for Presidents day when we will be in HI - nice perk that it is allowable there).

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

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.

No JetBlue here and I’ve never flown Delta. I’ll have to remember that if I ever do.

Someone didn’t think that through very well. They are gonna lose a lot. I’m sure there a lot of people who will spend $50-100 every time they use the $10 off but then there are the rest of us. Lol

I may have been back tonight to buy 2 cans of Amy's soup and a box of Kind granola bars for $4.00 OOP. I see 2 trips tomorrow as well . Dd really likes their protein drinks and they are around $3.00 each, so 3 of those and something little each trip. Luckily they are only 5 minutes from my house. Monday will be more fresh fruit salad and I'm not sure what else! The cashier told me the intent of the $10.00 coupon is to get traffic in the store -- well it's working with me, but I'm sure I'm not the kind of traffic they were looking for!

 

[LB002]

Also, on a personal note, since we’re all friends here, your thoughts and prayers would be appreciated for my family as my 90 year old grandma passed away this week. Her death wasn’t entirely unexpected as she’d had a number of health setbacks the last couple of months. Lots of family coming home for the weekend for the visiting and funeral. My son drove home (Ohio) from Nashville last night, narrowly missing the bad weather, which had me worried of course. We don’t have any major family conflicts (unusual these days!) so I expect this will be a comforting weekend of visiting, reminiscing, and mourning our loss.

I am so sorry for your loss. My grandma passed last month, also not unexpected but still heart breaking. It was a somber week, but also very comforting to have all our family together (funeral was the Friday before Christmas). I hope your family has that same sort of week together.