I love credit cards so much! v4.0 - 2021 (see first page for add'l details)

[becauseimnew]

SO.MANY.AMEX.OFFERS

I have 53 added offers on my Plat and 100 I could add, but they all suck!

 

[AndreaDM]

Anyone pay for a car on a CC? My DD is looking to buy a used car in the 5-6K range. She has the cash, but I'm thinking of putting it on a card to earn points IF the dealer doesn't charge extra fees for doing so. Just wondering if anyone has any experience with this?

 

[afan]

Anyone pay for a car on a CC? My DD is looking to buy a used car in the 5-6K range. She has the cash, but I'm thinking of putting it on a card to earn points IF the dealer doesn't charge extra fees for doing so. Just wondering if anyone has any experience with this?

It's all dealer dependent. The one I'm getting my car from only allows 2k others will let you do all or none or something in between. Plenty of people do it when allowed.

 

[LilSweetPeaPhoto]

Anyone pay for a car on a CC? My DD is looking to buy a used car in the 5-6K range. She has the cash, but I'm thinking of putting it on a card to earn points IF the dealer doesn't charge extra fees for doing so. Just wondering if anyone has any experience with this?

I did the down payment of my daughter's car on my credit card, but not anything more than that. They didn't charge me extra. It was $1000.

 

[havaneselover]

Anyone pay for a car on a CC? My DD is looking to buy a used car in the 5-6K range. She has the cash, but I'm thinking of putting it on a card to earn points IF the dealer doesn't charge extra fees for doing so. Just wondering if anyone has any experience with this?

I always pay as much as I can with cc. I think the last two dealerships I dealt with let me do $3,500 (new Honda) and $2,500 (used Acura at a Honda dealer). The rest I got a loan for.

 

[AndreaDM]

Thanks all! I will find out what the max allowed is and do that.

 

[Judique]

DP: Some of you may have the AO to spend $500 and get a $25 statement credit and the 10% back up to $50 credit for Lowe’s. I had always planned on stacking the offers to buy a $500 Disney Gift card at Lowe’s and get $75 in savings. The Lowe’s I usually frequent would not allow credit card payment for gift card purchases. This was an unexpected roadblock. I decided to try another location a few weeks later. It took an upper level manager override. I could see the screen prompt and it mentioned high value purchase. I wonder if it got flagged because it was a variable card. Maybe if I’d purchased 10 of the $50 DGCs it wouldn’t have been flagged. In any case the manger allowed me to purchase it so it seems it is a YMMV.

I just used my offer on Saturday but I purchased a $250 disney gift card using the 10% offer. I'm doing it $250 at a time.

Other than the cashier didn't know how to process a variable load card and I had to prompt her to scan it and enter $250 on the screen, and then she thought I needed to sign the activation receipt and that she would keep it, I had no problems. I patiently told her, no, I don't sign that, it's my activation receipt, and I get it. Stuffed it in my bag, said thanks, and on the way out asked a familiar face if things had changed. No, nothing changed, that's your receipt.

I had just been to Staples to use another offer - the $25 off $100 one. Have to remember to get my daughter to do that one on her card for me.....

And, has anyone had any Lowes offers on any Chase cards? 8 cards - nothing from Lowes or Sam's recently. Plenty of junk I don't need, like paint and security systems.

Also a Disney + offer - but I don't pay for that so it's useless for me.

 

[DisMommyTX]

Anyone pay for a car on a CC? My DD is looking to buy a used car in the 5-6K range. She has the cash, but I'm thinking of putting it on a card to earn points IF the dealer doesn't charge extra fees for doing so. Just wondering if anyone has any experience with this?

I made a deal for my car ($16k new Mazda5 after trade in 10+ years ago), then told him I wanted to use the card for part of it. He said no. I walked. The car had been sitting on his lot for over a year. He called me a week later and said they would take the card for $5k. He tried to add other additional fees later, rinse and repeat. I hate dealing with salesmen, but yes I have been able to put new and used cars on my credit card.

 

[elgerber]

I am heaing to Lowes this weekend, to try using both offers. I need fridge filters, that will total over $100 then was going to try to get $400 on Amazon. I sure hope it works.

 

[Judique]

Thanks all! I will find out what the max allowed is and do that.

Here in Maryland I did $5000 on my last car. Nov 2019.

 

[Judique]

Talking about the Lowes and Staples offers I did on Saturday, I have both credits this morning. That was fast! Wait - maybe I did them on Friday...oh well, still pretty fast.

 

[wanderlust7]

Thank you for the feedback. I just checked my credit report and it looks like I have $104,000 in credit (not ncluding the $44,000 CL from my CIP.)
Should I decrease my CL from some or all of my Chase cards or from my AMEx cards which I rarely use? I also have $20,000 CL on my Spark biz card which does show up on my report and factors in that $104,000. I kept the Spark card open to keep the miles I earned last year from a huge sign up bonus. I also have a small automatic charge on it to keep it active. Tomorrow is exactly 3 months for applying for my CIP. I’m ready to make some large purchases from Office Max for our business, hence the reason for the CIC. I can wait till the end of May to apply for the United Quest. Hopefully there will be a support link for the new United Quest card. DH does have a United Explorer so it would be nice to support a family member for once.

The United Quest support link is out and you can support from any United card. The extra 20k for additional $5000 spend isn't on the offer though. Hopefully, by the time you apply, the offers will be the same.

https://www.doctorofcredit.com/chase-united-quest-card-100000-points-signup-bonus-launch-offer/

 

[IFlossU]

Looking to book some Southwest flights for my family. My daughter has some orphaned points from converting travel funds to points. Was going to use her points to book a flight to San Diego. She’s 118 points short I’m like I’m assuming I can’t travel UR’s to her account? Any suggestions?

 

[DisMommyTX]

Looking to book some Southwest flights for my family. My daughter has some orphaned points from converting travel funds to points. Was going to use her points to book a flight to San Diego. She’s 118 points short I’m like I’m assuming I can’t travel UR’s to her account? Any suggestions?

Rapid Rewards Shopping portal, earn points for surveys, or $20 to transfer 2000 pts from another SW account to hers.

 

[IFlossU]

Rapid Rewards Shopping portal, earn points for surveys, or $20 to transfer 2000 pts from another SW account to hers.

Awesome! I forget about the shopping portal. Thank you

 

[amcc]

Talking about the Lowes and Staples offers I did on Saturday, I have both credits this morning. That was fast! Wait - maybe I did them on Friday...oh well, still pretty fast.

What cards are these on? None of my cards have any interesting to me offers right now, just Hilton with 5x on Wayfair.

I am planning our summer vacation. We've decided on a road trip at the end of July up the East Coast - Miami - Charleston (3 nights) - DC (4 nights) - Philadelphia (3 nights), then drive back down through Cape May and the ferry. I could use some suggestions for this 5- day back down part of the trip (and for Charleston, DC, Philadelphia).

We will spend 2 days in Williamsburg as my son asked to go to Busch Gardens and if any kid shows any interest in my planning, I try to oblige. I read here often about beach towns in the area. We aren't interested in beach time directly as we spend alot of time at our beaches, but I do like the idea of different kinds of beach areas. I think @Judique and others may have mentioned Chincoteague and that area - is this where the horses are? How easy is it to see them? I need 3 locations, from Williamsburg on down to spend an afternoon and a morning that would have something of interest for my kids (18, 16, 14, and 8) whether activity or history or just interesting. Food is good, always good. Definitely not galleries or shops but a pretty town as part of food is fine. I've tried to find a nice resort and had no luck as hotels are a big draw for them since we don't really stay in hotels.

I am so lost trying to plan this small part of the trip. My son graduates high school and I'd like to make it fun for him. Italy was his first choice but besides the pandemic, my dad is not doing great and I'd like to feel that I can jump in the car and come home if anything happens.

 

[Albort]

What cards are these on? None of my cards have any interesting to me offers right now, just Hilton with 5x on Wayfair.

business MR card. it came out in Jan though so its been awhile since it first showed up.

 

[iujen94]

Only y'all will appreciate this . . .

So I bought $300 of Visa GCs at Office Depot today. With the $15 promo, I paid $297.45. Dosh tracked at 2% - $6.39 cash back.

I registered my two VGCs at Rakuten. Also tried to register them at Dosh, but Dosh doesn't take prepaid VGCs anymore, apparently. So I went to Sam's Club through Rakuten and bought $300 in Disney GCs with my Visa GCs for $287.88. 1% cash back from Rakuten = $2.87 cash back. AND Dosh tracked even though I didn't even add my Visa GCs as payment! At 2%, that's another $5.75 cash back. (Dosh takes 90 days to fully credit Sam's, so it may ultimately disappear, but even the prospect is exciting!)

So -
$300 in Disney GCs for $287.88. Minus $2.55 discount on the original VGCs. Minus $22.30 in CIC 5x URs (I have a CSR so I can cash out at 1.5). Minus $6.39 in Office Depot Dosh cash back. Minus $8.62 in Sam's Dosh and Rakuten cash back. Total cost - $248.47, or about 17.2% off.

AND IT WAS SO EASY!

 

[ropedropper]

to you Both!

Responses to either of you might be of interest to the other, because your situations are somewhat similar.

You're both in great shape x/24-wise for Chase cards which tend to be a favorite for beginners here.

The largest benefit is typically in the sign-up bonus (SUB), followed by the rewards categories. Don't be afraid to grab a big SUB and meet the minimum spend requirement (MSR) and then sock-drawer it and move on the the next great thing. Also keep your mind open about annual fee (AF) cards, until you have looked into the perks that go with them. Sometimes if you can easily use most of the perks the AF card is a great deal. Business cards don't count against Chase's x/24 count, so eventually they may come into play for you. But authorized user (AU) cards do count, so don't become an AU in 2 player mode.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred (CSP) mentioned above has a great deal going on right now, and the 25% bonus on redeeming points, currently includes erasing supermarket and home improvement store purchases, in addition to the traditional bonus on travel thru the Chase portal. This is difficult to explain until you use it, but if you spend $100 on groceries this month, next month you could use $80 worth of Ultimate Rewards (8,000 URs) to pay for that portion of your bill. And the URs don't have to come from the CSP to get the bonus. You can transfer URs from other cards to the CSP then get the bonus.

And for both of you, grocery stores and Home Depot sell Disney Gift Cards (GCs), which is like getting a 25% discount on all things Disney. A little more than 25%, because I'm pretty sure you earn a few URs on the purchase, too.

Y'all will eventually be invited to our private group, where you can help a fellow member out by paying it forward to someone who helped you out (just don't pick me because I don't have the CSP 80k SUB offer available)

Thanks, Hoosier John and IFlossU!

I applied and was approved for the CSP. Looking forward to starting this credit card journey

 

[Judique]

What cards are these on? None of my cards have any interesting to me offers right now, just Hilton with 5x on Wayfair.

I am planning our summer vacation. We've decided on a road trip at the end of July up the East Coast - Miami - Charleston (3 nights) - DC (4 nights) - Philadelphia (3 nights), then drive back down through Cape May and the ferry. I could use some suggestions for this 5- day back down part of the trip (and for Charleston, DC, Philadelphia).

We will spend 2 days in Williamsburg as my son asked to go to Busch Gardens and if any kid shows any interest in my planning, I try to oblige. I read here often about beach towns in the area. We aren't interested in beach time directly as we spend alot of time at our beaches, but I do like the idea of different kinds of beach areas. I think @Judique and others may have mentioned Chincoteague and that area - is this where the horses are? How easy is it to see them? I need 3 locations, from Williamsburg on down to spend an afternoon and a morning that would have something of interest for my kids (18, 16, 14, and 8) whether activity or history or just interesting. Food is good, always good. Definitely not galleries or shops but a pretty town as part of food is fine. I've tried to find a nice resort and had no luck as hotels are a big draw for them since we don't really stay in hotels.

I am so lost trying to plan this small part of the trip. My son graduates high school and I'd like to make it fun for him. Italy was his first choice but besides the pandemic, my dad is not doing great and I'd like to feel that I can jump in the car and come home if anything happens.

My offers were on my Amex Bonvoy Biz card. As @Albort said they came out earlier this year.

Your trip sounds like it will be steeped in a lot of history and government.

Charleston - I love this little city and lived there for about 8 months back in the late 70ties. So for me it's a lot of nostalgia. I love a walk around the Battery. I'm too out of touch to recommend any restaurants, but we have a few South Carolinians on here.

DC - @striker1064 knows the spots and usually has excellent advice for the city. Not sure what is open right now or for the summer.

Philadelphia - I'm out of touch.

Cape May to Lewes via Ferry - once off the ferry you will be close to route 1 and Rehoboth, De with tax free shopping and a few miles of outlet stores. And traffic.
Next are several small towns such as Dewey Beach and Bethany Beach and than Ocean City in Maryland. I'm all for Maryland because that is where I live and I like to stay on the Boardwalk in front of the ocean. The Boardwalk runs from 28th Street down to the inlet. Or vice versa depending on where you arrive. On the way to Ocean City (from Rehoboth area) I sometimes/always stop at a deli called McCabes Gourmet Market that makes great sandwiches. It's right after Bethany (still in Delaware) on the right side of the highway in York Beach mall - that's a little strip mall. Right now it's closed but I would figure it to open for summer season. Their website is not working, but hopefully all will be back to normal.

Hotels - I tend towards the Hyatt and Marriott properties, all of which are decent though high priced so points needed, but if I had Hilton points I would also do them. Cash rates are ridiculous in summer, especially weekends. I do have Radisson points and there is a Country Inn and Suites, but I've not stayed at those in that area.

I've heard the Holiday Inn and Suites (17th St) is getting reno'ed but haven't been there to check it out. If they do a decent reno I like this hotel, but the rooms were very tired last year. Right now I'm partial to the (small) Hyatt Place and transferring UR's to book rooms. Marriott has taken their properties from 35K all the way to 70k with most now starting at 60k for late July. The Courtyard is ocean front and comfortable but at 70k I won't spend for it.

Every trip I eat at Shark on the Harbor. It's in West Ocean City. Other than that I eat the every day stuff that is bad for me like Thrasher's fries, Frankies pizza, Panera, fresh doughnuts from Fractured Prune and ice cream and at least once to General's Kitchen for a greasy spoon breakfast - ordinary fattening unhealthy food. (I'm at the beach!) Oh and I've been known to drive over to Berlin and have sunday brunch at the Globe (if it made it through the pandemic.) There is also a hole in the wall Mexican place I like the food from at 28th and Coastal. It's called Mother's Cantina - not fancy pretty gritty, but, again, I like their food to go.

Horses - if you want to see the horses, I would suggest Assateague rather than Chincoteague. Assateague - you will usually see the horses close up and often right on the road through the park as in stopping your car to let them pass. They hang on the beach, in the campgrounds, on the road, in the parking lots. Morning or early evening is best. It's about 10 miles from the mid Boardwalk area over to this park.

Chincoteague - unless you are there for the auction and roundup (wed, July 28) it's already cancelled again, yikes - the horses are usually off in the distance. Chincoteague has a Fairfield Inn, a Hampton Inn and several other options. On the road to Chincoteague is the Wallops Island visitor center. They send up some satellites from Wallops and I like to walk through the center every so often when it is open for visitors. It's small but interesting to me. It's a less than an hour visit.

They closed the one spot I used to get lunch at in Chincoteague and I haven't gotten over that yet. I did have a great crab sandwich at the restaurant next door to the Fairfield Inn. The place is pretty popular but I just had takeout. I've mostly eaten crab cakes at all the other spots. Crabs and suds.

In both parks, in late July or August, if you are not on the beach (breeze), the flies and mosquitos may carry you away. There are trails to walk but I would have to submerge in insect repellant to be comfortable, so I don't do walks in the summer. I save that for early spring or fall. YMMV on that as I'm older and run from bugs!

Both Chincoteague and Assateague have nice visitor centers. You can do the Assateague center without actually entering the park. In fact, you can usually see horses after you cross the bridge but before you have to pay to enter.

Next up - Virginia Beach/Norfolk/Williamsburg/Busch Gardens - my information is too outdated as my times spent here were when my kids were your kids ages. My Ex was in the navy and stationed here for the last part of his career. We did things like the Norfolk Zoo, Battleship Wisconsin in Norfolk, the Virginia Science Museum, Williamsburg historic area, Busch Gardens, Jamestown and Yorktown.

In July we will be heading to the Outer Banks for a few days. Marriott has priced us out of Ocean City in their hotels in summer and I'm already booked at Hyatt in June. August may be Holiday Inn Express to use my free nights. Maybe a Marriott trip in May depending on when daughter returns from South America. I have a half million Marriott points but I'm not giving them 60-70k.

A lot of my vacation focus is birdwatching, so not so much in tune with older kids. The littles are good with sand, beach toys and pools. But OC does have an amusement area, a trolley to ride on the BW, some rides (Trimper's - ferris wheel etc), Jolly Roger's amusement area, mini golf, real golf close by, small water park, nearby go carts in a few places, boating, bicycle rentals, parasailing, fishing excursions, a small airport that offers or used to offer small plane type rides. Tons of places to eat, some of which may be decent, lol.

People surf off the beach in OC and they also surf on Assateague. Flying kites is quite popular and I've happened upon a kite exhibition type event on Assateague a couple of times. Body boards are cheap in all the beach stores if your kids do that. The surf is usually fairly strong in OC and there is an under tow which people underestimate and they do have sharks, so the ocean is to be respected.

Okay, now I'm just rambling, so hope I helped a teeny bit.

Edit: salt water taffy - only Dolle's not anywhere else. Ponytails in Chincoteague is same company.