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

[Judique]

Wow, 80 gallons is HUGE. You must have hot water for days Ours is 48 gallons.

I had a smaller one and it wasn't keeping up when the kids and friends were here.

Now with two it's not an issue, so maybe time to downsize.

 

[elgerber]

I had a smaller one and it wasn't keeping up when the kids and friends were here.

Now with two it's not an issue, so maybe time to downsize.

LOL, I can only imagine how much space that takes up. When we had 4 here, I did wish ours was bigger.

 

[havaneselover]

Yikes! I have a plan to replace mine and I was thinking under 2K. Guess I'm being optimistic. What size is yours? I think mine is 80 gallons.

50 gallons. And just last week I thought I needed to proactively replace it.

The permit/flue inspection and needing an expansion tank drove up the first quote. The company that did it which appears to be very reputable said I didn’t need an expansion tank because my gas pressure was < 80 and didn’t do a permit.

I guess the good thing was after getting a really high quote, I felt good about only spending $2,000 replacing it.

 

[sinnika]

No. Anything over the $10 from your amex amount will get charged to the gc. If your order comes to 15.89 then it'll take off 5.89 but if your order is 25.89 it'll take 25.89.

And if you use regular uber it'll get used by that in the same way.

If you're able to order from uber eats and it comes out to an even 20 every time that would work but I don't know how you'd manage that with tax and fees.

OK, I see that now. My total was $10.27, and $.27 was taken off of the gift card. Now that makes sense!

 

[georgina]

Wow, 80 gallons is HUGE. You must have hot water for days Ours is 48 gallons.

The townhouse we bought 2 years ago has an 80 gallon tank. I guess when it was built there was a large corner tub? It's on the 4th floor and will be a major pain to replace as they will have to lift it up to get past the furnace in the same utility closet! Crazy.

 

[leeniewdw]

Since people in this thread know everything...my 24 yo wants to rent a car. She is not on my insurance anymore, nor does she have a car at all. I assume she should buy insurance from the rental company, but will that be enough? I've never rented without having car insurance of my own.

In my brain I thought you had to be 25 to rent cars? Or can you get around that with purchasing full coverage from the rental company?

 

[elgerber]

The townhouse we bought 2 years ago has an 80 gallon tank. I guess when it was built there was a large corner tub? It's on the 4th floor and will be a major pain to replace as they will have to lift it up to get past the furnace in the same utility closet! Crazy.

I guess that makes sense for a large tub like that.

 

[punkin]

What state is she in and what does she want the insurance to cover? Just about all credit cards have some type of rental insurance but that won't cover liability, only damage to the rental.

Pennsylvania. She's an AU on my Amex Gold if that helps.

 

[punkin]

There is non-owner car insurance. My DD has some, not sure which company, because she often drives cars she does not own and wants to be covered in those cases and rentals.

https://www.forbes.com/advisor/car-insurance/non-owner/

That looks like a great idea for someone who rented often, but she really doesn't.

 

[wanderlust7]

Since people in this thread know everything...my 24 yo wants to rent a car. She is not on my insurance anymore, nor does she have a car at all. I assume she should buy insurance from the rental company, but will that be enough? I've never rented without having car insurance of my own.

Apparently in all states except California, the minimum liability insurance is required to be included. She can also buy Supplemental Liability Coverage for more coverage. Link

 

[KPK02090]

I’ve found at my local Staples it depends on the cashier…some will let me get 9 instead of the advertised 8…this is with the VGCs…I liquidated at FD ..I’ve no experience with the MCGCs..probably should try them at FD too but just remember stories from a few years go of fraud and difficulty with liquidation so haven’t tried

MCGCs definitely more limited than VGC. I've had online orders fail with MC that subsequently work with V. Also, paying your target red card as debit at the counter failed MCGC but worked VGC. I always register my cards, set pin, etc, so it's not a matter of them being set up differently by me.

Unless you *need* cards when MCGC are available, I'd stick to VGC.

Echo this. I basically now pay for my Redcard purchases exclusively with VGCs. Gotta wait for those to come back to stock up again, I'm skipping the MCGCs

I’m in the minority on this one. I use the gift cards to pay tuition through “Facts.” And for some weird reason my DD’s school only accepts Amex and MasterCard - not VISA. So I’m always stocking up when it’s MC gift cards on sale. Strangely my son’s school, also through Facts, takes MC, Amex AND VISA so I buy those too.

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

I’m in the minority on this one. I use the gift cards to pay tuition through “Facts.” And for some weird reason my DD’s school only accepts Amex and MasterCard - not VISA. So I’m always stocking up when it’s MC gift cards on sale. Strangely my son’s school, also through Facts, takes MC, Amex AND VISA so I buy those too.

Ah, that makes sense. I have no kids' tuition to pay for yet, but maybe in 15 years or so I'll be rockin' the MCGCs like you!

 

[miztressuz]

I don't know if this is every Staples, but I went to two separate Staples tonight and was told the limit on the Fee Free MasterCard Gift Cards was $2,000. At the first one the cashier rang up 9 cards ($1,800) and the last one gave a message of having reached the limit - I just said "that's fine, I'll just take the $1,800." The next Staples the kid asked his manager how many I could buy and she said the limit is $2,000. Same message came up when he tried to enter the 10th card. The manager came over and said to just ring the last $200 separately. She said, although it wasn't charging the activation fee the system was still counting it and thought the purchase was over $2,000.
Anyway long story to say looks like 8 cards isn't necessarily the max.

Yep, last manager was right. The 2k limit includes the fees. Even though the sale is removing the fee, it's kinda like a coupon, so the subtotal has to be 2k or less. Hence why 9 is fine, and 10 hits the system stop. The actual sale itself doesn't seem to ever enforce the limit stated. How ever many you ring up, it takes the fee off. I think it's like a guideline so most people aren't emptying out racks.

The 2k limit is imposed by federal reporting requirements where anything over 2k they're supposed to get customer information or some such. So as a corporate policy Staples, and others, have imposed the limit to avoid that. Whether the system including the fee in that total is right or not, I dunno .

In my brain I thought you had to be 25 to rent cars? Or can you get around that with purchasing full coverage from the rental company?

You can be younger but you might get hit with surcharges. When we were young we got a cheap rental car once and the 'underage' surcharges were about equal to the rental rate.

Most majors will rent to 20/21 year olds with a surcharge. Harder to find a company to rent younger than that.

We were so happy when we hit the 23/24 threshold for cheaper car insurance and car rentals! Now I'd be happy to trade some cash if we could be 22 again

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

got apprvoed for IHG biz on the 17th....still no card, and nothing showing online either...is this normal? I still have the approval email

Is nothing showing up in your biz account (separate from your personal Chase account)? I do know it can take a bit for co-brand cards to get mailed. I wouldn't worry about it, especially given the approval email.

 

[gottalovepluto]

My understanding is that it will automatically use your gift card balance before a card. I believe you have to zero out your gift card balance first.

Concur with @afan

It used to though, thankfully they fixed that. I’ve had a gc balance on my account since the holidays. I use the monthly credits and supplement anything extra with the gc balance.

 

[gottalovepluto]

In my brain I thought you had to be 25 to rent cars? Or can you get around that with purchasing full coverage from the rental company?

Old rules. Nowadays if at least 21 you’ll pay extra per day young driver charges if under 25 and you’re good to go. Some states allow rentals even younger. Link.

 

[gottalovepluto]

got apprvoed for IHG biz on the 17th....still no card, and nothing showing online either...is this normal? I still have the approval email

I’d give it 2 weeks. Cards from various places have been slow as molasses for me recently, like the post office is taking an early summer

 

[gottalovepluto]

…I considered cancelling this card since I did not receive any retention bonus after 2 requests. Should I try for a third? I have held this card for 1 year and 1 month now.

Are you in the 30 days since the AF posted window to cancel for a full refund? If you are might as well try for a third and then cancel, most of the time when cancelling they’ll run you through any retention offers anyway.

 

[chattadisser]

I’m in the minority on this one. I use the gift cards to pay tuition through “Facts.” And for some weird reason my DD’s school only accepts Amex and MasterCard - not VISA. So I’m always stocking up when it’s MC gift cards on sale. Strangely my son’s school, also through Facts, takes MC, Amex AND VISA so I buy those too.

I pay tuition through FACTS too and didn't realize that the cards accepted could vary with schools. Both of mine have been at the same school and I figured that FACTS set the cards accepted. I've been lucky in that theirs accepts both MC and VGC so I can stock up on either. It seems to me that the MCGC fee free are on sale less often than the VGC. I do find the VGC's are easier to spend in person on like haircuts, co-pays ect. Not sure why but they seem more accepted at the POS machines. We only have one Staples in town and I'm in there so frequently that the manager know why I buy them, we've had conversations about the points game - apparently there is at least one other person in town that comes in and buys a lot. He even comments when I don't buy the max allowable!

 

[sinnika]

Are you in the 30 days since the AF posted window to cancel for a full refund? If you are might as well try for a third and then cancel, most of the time when cancelling they’ll run you through any retention offers anyway.

Renewal fee posted April 25. If I missed the 30 day window, is it prorated?