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

[SouthFayetteFan]

Ok so maybe it was 1 1/2 years ago. But I recall saying I was cashing out and you said you couldn’t because higher cpp could be had.
I’m not criticizing, just pointing out that attitudes and priorities change.

I know, I know, lol! When it first came out I was legit super frustrated! Time numbs those frustrations I guess

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Ok so maybe it was 1 1/2 years ago. But I recall saying I was cashing out and you said you couldn’t because higher cpp could be had.
I’m not criticizing, just pointing out that attitudes and priorities change.

I guess I can say this now too. I also was on a crusade to figure out how to cash-out at 1.5cpp. There were rumors of it in a private group I was in. I chased that for months and months. Talked to dozens of people about it - finally figured out what apparently was a workable strategy but Chase had since closed the loophole so it didn't work. If I had figured it out while it was still working I'd be $8,000 richer right now, lol!

 

[CyndiLouWho]

My last name is easy to rhyme with, so we would just sit around and make up terrible, awful names we could give our children and crack up. We did not use any of those awful names, but it did make it hard to come up with something that would not sound terrible from the get go.

My DH has the same first and last name. like this guy

No idea what his parents were thinking.

The old games are the best! We have Life from when DS was little. My 10 year old nephew asked for Life as a Christmas gift so I got him a current version. We played over the weekend and it was not the same! You have to do all kinds of silly things, like demonstrate your best skateboard moves, or tell a joke and make another player laugh. My nephew enjoyed it but I prefer the original.

We have Despicable Me Life. Some of the actions are kind of silly, and you collect bananas. It’s still fun. I don’t think I played the original much.

 

[DisneyMandC]

Finally got my ticket to MCO for February purchased after battling with the JB website all morning! So here are my current plans and redemptions for this trip...

2/18- 7:30 pm nonstop flight RIC to MCO on JetBlue. Flights were $89 each. Both paid for using Amex Gold airline credits (one flight bought 12/26, the second bought 1/2 after the credit renewed).

Stay at the Hyatt MCO for 12k Hyatt points.

2/19- Wake up early and pick up rental car from MCO. Not sure how we’ll pay for this yet. We’ll have one day free on DH’s points. We may use CO Venture travel eraser for the rest. TBD.

Drive to BG Tampa and spend the day there. Tickets bought during Daily Getaways deal for $55/pp.

Drive back to Orlando and begin our four night stay at Sheraton Vistana Villages purchased on a Marriott vacation deal for $199 for all four nights, plus we get 15k Marriott points.

2/20- Spend the day at Hollywood Studios. Tickets bought with discounted GCs.

2/21- Spend the day at Universal Studios. Tickets bought with CO Venture through UT and using travel eraser.

2/22- Listen to the Marriott timeshare presentation at some point. Hit up the outlets and Disney Springs. Dinner at Homecomin

2/23- Fly SW back to RIC. Nonstop flights for 5100 SW RRs each.

 

[jhoannam]

We got 2 of the 10% off $100 Lowes offers, both on our Marriott Biz cards. Likely we'll have something to buy there before they expire anyway BUT, can you just buy $100 Lowes gift cards and call it a day? Just curious....

You might want to double check but I think it's 10% up to $100 credit, which means you can spend $1,000.

 

[AmyAnne]

Dh loves Risk but I refuse to play with him. I think he wins every single time. I’m not much of a strategy game person. I’d rather play something like life, uno, sorry, Yahtzee

In my view, to get the full Risk experience (which is not necessarily a good experience; it depends on your personality) you need to play with at least four people, to create the possibility of "alliances" (as my kids, who are pretty competitive, call it--I call it "ganging up" which is why I am happy not to play--that, and a game can take days to complete).

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Drive back to Orlando and begin our four night stay at Sheraton Vistana Villages purchased on a Marriott vacation deal for $199 for all four nights, plus we get 15k Marriott points.

Ok, so I don’t feel super bad that last week I got sucked into a deal like this.
$149 for 3 nights at a Hilton in Orlando (like Waldorf Astoria or Bonnet Creek) plus 20k points. I know I shouldn’t plan another trip but I couldn’t help myself. DS usually has a 3 days weekend in September. Hoping it happens again this year (no school calendar yet).

 

[DisneyMandC]

Ok, so I don’t feel super bad that last week I got sucked into a deal like this.
$149 for 3 nights at a Hilton in Orlando (like Waldorf Astoria or Bonnet Creek) plus 20k points. I know I shouldn’t plan another trip but I couldn’t help myself. DS usually has a 3 days weekend in September. Hoping it happens again this year (no school calendar yet).

Nope, I thought it was a pretty good deal. I knew when we bought it that we were going to want to go back to Orlando again, so why not I have no problem saying no repeatedly during the presentation.

 

[jhoannam]

Who here has a spreadsheet where they track offers? Can you share the heading? I remember thinking that was a great idea now I can't find the info.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

2019 TAX PLANNING AND SUPPORT LINKS
Oh boy - it's now January 2020 which means those 2019 tax returns can't be far behind!

As a reminder, last year Chase and American Express issued 1099s for support clicks! Here are some random thoughts on this:

• Chase issued one 1099 per person for all cards. It showed the card # on the 1099 so you could easily match up and check for accuracy.
• American Express issued one 1099 per card! So some people received numerous 1099s if they had clicks on multiple cards. The 1099 showed the account number also so you could match up and check for accuracy.
• People did identify ERRORS on their 1099s. The only way to check this is to comb through your records for all the clicks your received.
• We never reached a consensus on what sparked you to receive a 1099. There were lots of theories of a thresh-hold of $500 or $600 but never reached a clear answer there. And there were some people who inexplicably received 1099s at lower amounts if I recall correctly.
• If you had any support clicks last year, it would be best to wait and be SURE that no 1099s are coming your way no matter how simple your taxes may seem.
• I don't recall ANY of these 1099s being available online

Here are the way points were valued last year:

• ALL American Express related cards/points (MRs, Marriott, Delta) = 1 cpp (with exception of Hilton)
• Hilton = 0.67 cpp
• ALL Chase related cards/points (URs, Southwest, Hyatt, Marriott, United) = 1cpp
• Please let me know if anything is wrong here and I can update this.

Some people - namely @Andysol - did make an effort to dispute some valuations last year and/or attribute expenses/annual fees against them. Unless you are a major heavy hitter in the support link realm, this is likely NOT worth your time since you're probably saving an inconsequential amount on your taxes and possibly putting yourself at a risk of larger scrutiny by the IRS (this is probably just paranoia on my part though). If you can identify a clear mistake however, (i.e. that your amount is higher than the actual points received based on the calculations above) then you may want to follow up with the bank to attempt to clarify that.

Please share here on the thread if you receive a 1099 for support links so that people can be on the lookout for them. These likely won't go out until very late in the month based on how it worked last year.

 

[Haley R]

In my view, to get the full Risk experience (which is not necessarily a good experience; it depends on your personality) you need to play with at least four people, to create the possibility of "alliances" (as my kids, who are pretty competitive, call it--I call it "ganging up" which is why I am happy not to play--that, and a game can take days to complete).

We don’t play with just us. The only time I’ve ever played was with his family. Usually it’s his dad and siblings. I guess I just get too bored to finish the game. I’m like that with monopoly too

 

[wendow]

I legit bust out laughing at this one!!

Me too!! Feeling kind of queenly now

 

[amalone1013]

The old games are the best! We have Life from when DS was little. My 10 year old nephew asked for Life as a Christmas gift so I got him a current version. We played over the weekend and it was not the same! You have to do all kinds of silly things, like demonstrate your best skateboard moves, or tell a joke and make another player laugh. My nephew enjoyed it but I prefer the original.

Oh no, I was thinking I'd like to get Life. Better look for an old copy!

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Please let this reddit comment and its score of -28 be another reminder to you that self-support on Amex is NOT the answer!!

https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/comments/eiwx69/_/fcumn21

 

[PolyRob]

I continue to follow the RotR BG thread on the DIS religiously! If anybody has trips coming up and is trying to ride RotR, I highly advise you check that thread out! As we head OUT of holiday crowds, the DPs will be much more meaningful (probably starting Sunday/Monday and beyond)...

https://www.disboards.com/threads/r...planning-and-information-no-spoilers.3782822/
Today was an IT crapfest! People who I KNOW were prepared and well-read on the topic had phones crash and end up with BGs that may not get called until late this afternoon IF AT ALL! It certainly has me frustrated with a trip just 3 weeks out... I'm just hoping things go well for us because it sounds like you're heading early to Hollywood Studios to enter a Lottery that could be tampered with by IT issues... (that's exactly what I want on my $8k vacation)....

I need to head back over there! When falling off the DIS I sacrificed catching-up on a lot of threads, but I need to make sure I stay up to date for the spring! Slowly easing back into my 2 pages of unread threads

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

I need to head back over there! When falling off the DIS I sacrificed catching-up on a lot of threads, but I need to make sure I stay up to date for the spring! Slowly easing back into my 2 pages of unread threads

It's bad news today...the ride must've gone down. It's been stuck on BG 88 for 90 minutes now! And they handed out an insane # of BGs today for the number of operating ours.

 

[PolyRob]

I have an admission to make...I still haven't turned my computer on today. LOL! I'm just glancing at my emails on my phone, LOL!

So jealous! While I am fortunate that I am also working from home, I am covering for a few peers that are out until 1/6 and I woke up to multiple Chicken Littles with "issues" that are nonexistent.

 

[PolyRob]

Only 5 more to go! Although the DIS spam filter will probably only let you post every 20-30 minutes right now, LOL!

View attachment 461985

HOW do you know so much about a new users Spam filter... SFF2?!?!?

 

[PolyRob]

My mom wanted to buy my nephews candyland but she said the new characters are too creepy lol

I 100% agree with her. WHERE is Plumpy? He was my favorite. I would hoard the card even though it meant I was going to lose. I recently discovered he was only in the 80s, 90s, and 50th anniversary edition. Give me my retro game!!!

 

[PolyRob]

Finally got my ticket to MCO for February purchased after battling with the JB website all morning! So here are my current plans and redemptions for this trip...

2/18- 7:30 pm nonstop flight RIC to MCO on JetBlue. Flights were $89 each. Both paid for using Amex Gold airline credits (one flight bought 12/26, the second bought 1/2 after the credit renewed).

Stay at the Hyatt MCO for 12k Hyatt points.

2/19- Wake up early and pick up rental car from MCO. Not sure how we’ll pay for this yet. We’ll have one day free on DH’s points. We may use CO Venture travel eraser for the rest. TBD.

Drive to BG Tampa and spend the day there. Tickets bought during Daily Getaways deal for $55/pp.

Drive back to Orlando and begin our four night stay at Sheraton Vistana Villages purchased on a Marriott vacation deal for $199 for all four nights, plus we get 15k Marriott points.

2/20- Spend the day at Hollywood Studios. Tickets bought with discounted GCs.

2/21- Spend the day at Universal Studios. Tickets bought with CO Venture through UT and using travel eraser.

2/22- Listen to the Marriott timeshare presentation at some point. Hit up the outlets and Disney Springs. Dinner at Homecomin

2/23- Fly SW back to RIC. Nonstop flights for 5100 SW RRs each.

Very nice!!! Glad you got it straightened out. The JB website and app drive me absolutely crazy.