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

[IFlossU]

Ugh, little things bother me sometimes. REI switched its credit card to Capital One. I am not a fan. I got 2 emails today, one from Amex stating 'your autopay is scheduled for July 22'. The other was from Capital One saying 'your payment is due July 22.' So I have to dig out my Capital One login info (I rarely use the card unless I buy something from REI) and login to check that my autopay is scheduled. Just annoying. Rant over.

Haha! I agree stuff like this is just so annoying. One more thing to add to life’s list.

 

[wanderlust7]

Sorry another question for Munich. We’re finally looking at places to eat while we’re there. Do most of the Biergartens require reservations or can you just walk up and eat?

We went to Hofbräuhaus. I don't think they take reservations in the beer garden or beer hall. We went in the afternoon on a weekday and it wasn't crowded. It's huge inside! Most people were outside, but we were able to find a shady table. In Germany, if there's no please wait to be seated sign, you can just seat yourself and someone will come by.

Other things I learned in Germany - there are a lot of smokers! No restaurant gives tap water, you have to buy bottled (still or sparkling). It costs almost as much as soda.

 

[Haley R]

We went to Hofbräuhaus. I don't think they take reservations in the beer garden or beer hall. We went in the afternoon on a weekday and it wasn't crowded. It's huge inside! Most people were outside, but we were able to find a shady table. In Germany, if there's no please wait to be seated sign, you can just seat yourself and someone will come by.

Other things I learned in Germany - there are a lot of smokers! No restaurant gives tap water, you have to buy bottled (still or sparkling). It costs almost as much as soda.

That’s good to know because we’re looking to eat at Hofbrauhaus. I’m thinking we’ll mostly do lunches out and about and cook dinners at our apartment hotel since we have a kitchen.

Gross about the smoking. Not looking forward to that. Are there water fountains anywhere or not really? We’re huge water drinkers. Might need to fill up and bring our giant water thermos with us each day.

 

[wanderlust7]

That’s good to know because we’re looking to eat at Hofbrauhaus. I’m thinking we’ll mostly do lunches out and about and cook dinners at our apartment hotel since we have a kitchen.

Gross about the smoking. Not looking forward to that. Are there water fountains anywhere or not really? We’re huge water drinkers. Might need to fill up and bring our giant water thermos with us each day.

We didn't notice any water fountains. We bought bottled at drug stores or supermarkets, it was pretty cheap there (about 1 euro). The challenge was figuring out which was the still and which sparkling lol. We saw one labeled "classic", which we thought at first means regular (i.e. still). But nope, it means classic amount of bubbles!

On the subject of water - many toilets have a fee (0.50 or 1 euro usually if I remember correctly). Some take credit card, some not, so good to have some change on you.

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

It was the longest trip we've done. Our other long one was shorter by a week. The teenager says he didn't like the trip, though the day to day complaints weren't too bad. The preteen complained about no internet on the cruise ship.

Our next long trip will be 3 weeks in Japan and South Korea next summer. They love Japan, so no problems there. I have Costa Rica planned, but the teenager says he doesn't want to go. I might have to leave him with the grandparents.

I try to fit in things that would interest them. The teenager likes to shop vintage, so we would stop in the second hand stores when we came across them. There were some interesting ones! Like the one by weight in Amsterdam and the one in Reykjavik that was individual racks people rent out.

No real revelations, other than to treasure the time they're willing to travel with us while we still can!

When I was a kid, I would have loved to travel to such places! I loved every minute of the smaller trips my parents were able to afford to take us on. But we're all different. I have tried to bring my two siblings on trips with DH and I to nice places using points, and with us paying any incidentals, but nothing. I have wanderlust But they are such home bodies! The youngest would rather play video games with all of his free time.

We’re using our incoming points for 2 connecting rooms at DoubleTree in Rome. Haha sounds funny to say that, but works for our purposes. I will also add that the WA Orlando has really grown on us as a family. The first stay was a bit sad for us because we have always stayed on property so definitely missed that Disney feeling. However, I can’t justify the cost anymore when I can stay at the Waldorf on points. We stayed 2nd time in May, and like I said we’re really starting to like it. As a Diamond member I’ve been upgraded to a 2 queen deluxe suite both stays (I asked the 2nd time a week in advance) we had a view of Epcot and the fireworks every night, and it’s amazing having a 2 room suite to spread out. If you want to know more you can message me, or ask here. I’m happy to answer any specific questions. It’s 100% a different experience, but I’ve made peace with it and quite enjoy staying there now.

How many nights are you staying in Rome? Just wondering how far the points will go. I'm still pretty married to Hyatt rn, especially since I just earned Globalist a couple days ago. But wondering for the future as sometimes I need a room from a brand with a larger footprint.

 

[IFlossU]

How many nights are you staying in Rome? Just wondering how far the points will go. I'm still pretty married to Hyatt rn, especially since I just earned Globalist a couple days ago. But wondering for the future as sometimes I need a room from a brand with a larger footprint.

Just 3 nights. 60k/night x 2 because we need 2 rooms. Congratulations on Globalist. I would love to be able to take advantage of all those benefits.

 

[calypso726]

Sorry another question for Munich. We’re finally looking at places to eat while we’re there. Do most of the Biergartens require reservations or can you just walk up and eat?

When we were there in December all decent restaurants required dinner reservations. We watched numerous people get turned away at several places where we dined.

Sorry if I may have missed details but @Haley R where are you staying in Munich and @*WDW*Groupie* where did you stay? Wound up getting a presale code to Taylor Swift's Eras tour and have tickets for the show in Munich. I haven't even started looking at flights or hotels yet.

 

[miztressuz]

Hi all! I'm a long time DISer, but CC newbie. I have been reading these posts for a few weeks now, trying to understand it all & I'm now ready for your advice!
A little about myself, I have stage 4 kidney cancer (doing great!) and am in my 3rd year of a clinical trial at MD Anderson in Houston, TX. CC-wise, I pay for myself & a companion to fly to/from TX every 4 weeks (est. 1K). My airports of choice are Greenville/Spartanburg, SC & Asheville, NC. I have dealt with several cancelled flights and delays during this last year, so a card with a good travel insurance policy may be useful.
My hubby is retired, but still working at another job & I have 7 more years to work. We just sold our rental cabins (we're in the Great Smoky Mtns.), and have business tax #/info., etc. if needed for business cc's.
Here is a breakdown of my frequent airline co's & points that I have:
**Clinical trial pays for 1 person in economy…
Southwest 35,779
United 21,750
Delta 12,044
American 6,445
Here is a breakdown of my frequent hotels & points:
**Clinical trial pays $240/nt
Marriott 8,496 (have used 11 free nights (for vacays) from points this year)
Radisson 11,922
IHG 9,967
Hilton 6,719
Credit card spend varies, but I will estimate $3,000/m for both of us (each of the last 2 months have been over $6k..). We could have more household bills/insurance charged to cc's, as he only charges the cable bill currently. Cards are paid in full monthly, and we never carry a balance.
I'm hoping to learn this process to assist with a trip out West in 5/24 and possibly a trip to France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland. The travel party would likely be myself, hubby, daughter-22 and possibly her boyfriend-22 (not sure since he's in grad school and will head towards pharm. school after that).
Typically, my trips consist of two 7-10 night stays at Disney & a week at the beach. I haven't been to Europe since our honeymoon, and I don't even know where to start planning that!
These are the cards we've applied for in the last 24 months:
My Cards:
5/23-Barclay Carnival
10/21-Citi Costco
3/23-BOA Royal Caribbean (closed 6/23)
04/22-Wells Fargo Active Cash (user)

P2 Cards:
04/22-Wells Fargo Active Cash
08/22-Tractor Supply
05/22-Lowe's for Pros (comm. Account)
5/23-Barclay Carnival (user)
10/21-Citi Costco (user)
3/23-BOA Royal Caribbean (closed 6/23...user)

I hope I haven't missed anything, and I apologize for the lengthy post! Feel free to ask any questions. I am so excited to get started with this. I am all about saving money for travel! Reading all of your posts have been so inspiring. Thank you so much for taking the time to share your knowledge with others!

First off, glad to hear you're doing great and I hope the trials lead to success!

There is a lot to unpack here but I'll give it a shot. Before I get going too far, I see that you have Hilton points already. Are you interested in continuing with them? I only mention because the Hilton cards have a high points welcome offer going on now with a free night certificate. The offers end 7/19 so I'd look at the Biz card today (7/18) and decide if you could use the offer. The business option won't report to your CR and there's no crazy eligibility charts like Marriott so getting it won't really affect much of anything else on a future CC path. But if they're not your favorite choice then trying to find somewhere to use the FNC in the next year not really helpful. Don't just FOMO apply because everyone else is if it won't bring you joy They've done similar bonuses before so I'm sure it'll probably come around again at some point. But I'd feel bad if I didn't point it out and it'd be useful for you. (I'll also point out if you decide on a personal Hilton flavor it'll make a Chase card journey a little harder, so if you're interested in any of Chase's cards I'd focus on the business option unless you have a really good case for another. A personal would change the degree of difficulty on the Chase cards.)


Secondly, let me make sure I understand your cards in the last 2 years. Did you really cancel a card 3 months after getting it? Was there a reason to do that? As a general practice we recommend holding a card for a year. For some bonuses this is a requirement to avoid clawback of the bonus under the agreement terms, for some if you've paid an annual fee may as well get use out of it since you won't get a pro-rated refund anyway ( except residents of MA usually), and then mostly it's just good form to encourage continued promos from the banks. But sometimes things get in the way and it'd be good to understand that.

You look like you are 4/24 so Chase cards are available. But with the AU card as soon as you get another on your credit report you're locked out until Oct. You'd be able to try recon to overlook that card in the calculation but it's not a guarantee that they will. We advise avoiding AU cards for this reason. There are ways to share the spending without having an AU card. If most places are modern you could add it to a digital wallet to use there. Can also request a replacement card because it was "damaged" and the copy should work same as original as long as no one asks for matching ID. (Don't pick 'lost' as an option, they will give you a new card number and lock the other, defeating the purpose.) For Chase, most times if you ask for a card to be expedited, you get two - a copy they rushed and the original request. That comes in handy.
Your exception would be employee cards on biz accounts. They won't report to your CR so no worry about adding to your 5/24 count.

P2 is in an interesting place where he's 4/24 or 6/24 depending on those store cards. For Tractor Supply, is that a store only card? That might not count towards Chase's calculation depending on how it's listed on the report. And the Lowe's card, likewise, is that a store only line? And if it's commercial, is it really showing up on his personal CR? Otherwise if interested in Chase you could try to recon for both the store and AU cards if they lead to a denial.

Third let's better understand your medical travel and how we can best use that for vacay travel. Does the clinical trial work on a reimbursement basis so you pay for the flight and they reimburse your ticket costs? Or is there a specific way that needs to be booked? If the former then you have some good flexibility in using a credit card travel benefits.
I was counting your cards for Chase as I think generally the CSR is recommended for most flexible travel protections for trip delay and trip interruption. Some cards require that the full fare be charged to the card to be covered but the Sapphires allow a points booking as long as some portion of the fare is charged to the card. So that would be handy for both your routine, reimbursed travel and leisure travel from points. AmEx also has coverage but, IIRC, you have to book a round-trip flight and have it fully charged to the card.
I was also thinking of the CSR if you're reimbursed as the $300 travel credit takes a nice chunk out of the AF.
UR points could be transferred for flights on Southwest or United, which can help with your companion expenses or build up for either of your anticipated trips.

Actually, I still haven't formulated much if a path yet but are your Radisson points the Americas or Europe program? The Americas are converting to Choice points today which would be more helpful for the West trip than Europe. And vice versa.

With your monthly spend it doesn't seem like you'll have a problem hitting nearly any bonus so that's helpful. Since you're open to business cards, have you looked at the Chase Inks? That'll help accumulate UR points while you're under 5/24. If so, then we can work some timelines to get both that and some personals going.

Sorry wasn't as much help off the bat! I am a Chase UR fan for their flexibility but I don't just want to blindly recommend that path if there's something else better for you. I'm still mulling it over, sorry!

 

[hsmamato2]

Was it a flat out denial? I thought I was denied as well, but when the letter came they just wanted ID verification. Mailed it in and was approved.

the page said 'we couldn't give it to you" or something like that..... I'll wait.

 

[happ]

Is there a way to find out if my local Walmart supercenter counts as a "grocery store" for the Disney Visa? Would Walmart pick up grocery orders count to get the 2% back?

FWIW My WM grocery pick up order last week did not code as grocery on a Chase Ink card.

 

[AndreaDM]

We didn't notice any water fountains. We bought bottled at drug stores or supermarkets, it was pretty cheap there (about 1 euro). The challenge was figuring out which was the still and which sparkling lol. We saw one labeled "classic", which we thought at first means regular (i.e. still). But nope, it means classic amount of bubbles!

On the subject of water - many toilets have a fee (0.50 or 1 euro usually if I remember correctly). Some take credit card, some not, so good to have some change on you.

LOL we struggled with the water thing too, it seemed bubbly was easier to find than still! I like bubbly, but DH doesn't. We loaded up on water bottles at a grocery store, the ALDI stores are very nice over there! Whole aisles for cheese and chocolate! We went in November so brought back some very nice advent calendars for gifts.

 

[MsOnceUponATime]

We’ll be staying in Fussen so pretty close by. We plan to drive over early (maybe 7:30) and park, then take the bus up. We thought pushing the stroller up the hill might be a little too much.

I think pushing the stroller would be too much -- and I'm an active, healthy, person. Good call on the bus. You're going to LOVE the area!!

 

[Haley R]

LOL we struggled with the water thing too, it seemed bubbly was easier to find than still! I like bubbly, but DH doesn't. We loaded up on water bottles at a grocery store, the ALDI stores are very nice over there! Whole aisles for cheese and chocolate! We went in November so brought back some very nice advent calendars for gifts.

We’re planning to hit up ALDI right after we get there to load up on some food so I’ll make sure we get bottled water while we’re there. There’s one close to where we’re staying

 

[Number-nerd]

My Fiancée is at 2/24 and will continue to be the end of the year, she will apply for CIP in August, and I want her to start the clear for CP in December.
We are leaving for a trip on the 15th of December, and would like to have the SW Performance card with us on the trip.
If she applies for the SW Performance on 12/7 which is on a Thursday, that would give 6 business days for the card to arrive before we leave.
01/07 is a Sunday. So could she apply on like 12/04 or 12/05 for more flexibility on getting the card before we leave on the 15th, or is that window too tight, and should we just apply on like the 15th and get the card after we get back on the 22nd?
Any further thoughts or input for Starting CP in December for 2024-2025?

Thanks Guys!

 

[becauseimnew]

We’re using our incoming points for 2 connecting rooms at DoubleTree in Rome. Haha sounds funny to say that, but works for our purposes. I will also add that the WA Orlando has really grown on us as a family. The first stay was a bit sad for us because we have always stayed on property so definitely missed that Disney feeling. However, I can’t justify the cost anymore when I can stay at the Waldorf on points. We stayed 2nd time in May, and like I said we’re really starting to like it. As a Diamond member I’ve been upgraded to a 2 queen deluxe suite both stays (I asked the 2nd time a week in advance) we had a view of Epcot and the fireworks every night, and it’s amazing having a 2 room suite to spread out. If you want to know more you can message me, or ask here. I’m happy to answer any specific questions. It’s 100% a different experience, but I’ve made peace with it and quite enjoy staying there now.

thank you!! I will message you because we too can’t justify staying on site anymore. We do have a reservation at Shades of Green for $1,000 but $0 would be even better.

 

[MsOnceUponATime]

I think pushing the stroller would be too much -- and I'm an active, healthy, person. Good call on the bus. You're going to LOVE the area!!

Quoting myself, but this is for @Haley R -

I've also stayed at Hotel Weinbauer in Schwangau (which was GREAT and accomodating) and have gone to this below grocery store directly across the street:

Feneberg Schwangau - Füssener Str. 6, 87645 Schwangau, Germany​

I also went to Schlossbrauhaus Schwangau right down the street (for lunch) which had an oompah band that was really great! It was like the scene from European Vacation where everyone is drinking, eating, and swaying back and forth with their steins!

Again, you're just going to LOVE it!

 

[palhockeymomof2]

My Fiancée is at 2/24 and will continue to be the end of the year, she will apply for CIP in August, and I want her to start the clear for CP in December.
We are leaving for a trip on the 15th of December, and would like to have the SW Performance card with us on the trip.
If she applies for the SW Performance on 12/7 which is on a Thursday, that would give 6 business days for the card to arrive before we leave.
01/07 is a Sunday. So could she apply on like 12/04 or 12/05 for more flexibility on getting the card before we leave on the 15th, or is that window too tight, and should we just apply on like the 15th and get the card after we get back on the 22nd?
Any further thoughts or input for Starting CP in December for 2024-2025?

Thanks Guys!

That timing would be tight to get the card in time to use on the trip. You could apply for it in November so you’d have it on time but make sure you don’t hit the MSR until after the December statement closes so the bonus points post in 2024

 

[Haley R]

Quoting myself, but this is for @Haley R -

I've also stayed at Hotel Weinbauer in Schwangau (which was GREAT and accomodating) and have gone to this below grocery store directly across the street:

Feneberg Schwangau - Füssener Str. 6, 87645 Schwangau, Germany​

I also went to Schlossbrauhaus Schwangau right down the street (for lunch) which had an oompah band that was really great! It was like the scene from European Vacation where everyone is drinking, eating, and swaying back and forth with their steins!

Again, you're just going to LOVE it!

Thank you for the restaurant recommendation! I think I’m most excited about the Fussen part of our stay. I almost wish we were spending less time in Munich and more time in Füssen but that’s okay. I’m excited about all of the outdoor things we’re planning to do there: alpine coaster, cable car, highline 179, forest experience ziegelweis. So many cool things to see and do

 

[becauseimnew]

No plans yet, but thinking maybe WA Cabo, Conrad Orlando, WA (or is it the Hilton) Beverly Hills. Or perhaps I'll head the Maldives next September and use the FNCs at the Conrad Rangali.

I have another tax installment due August 1st and the deposit for ds's new car early next week (ended up getting a 2022 Q3 Progressiv with 6k miles) and both HH biz spends will have been met. I plan on applying for the regular Hilton for dd tonight for my 3rd FNC.

I was looking at the Conrad Orlando but it doesn’t have early entry benefits, but I’m not sure how important that is anymore. From the little research I’ve read that you can only really get one ride in before normal opening.

 

[MsOnceUponATime]

Thank you for the restaurant recommendation! I think I’m most excited about the Fussen part of our stay. I almost wish we were spending less time in Munich and more time in Füssen but that’s okay. I’m excited about all of the outdoor things we’re planning to do there: alpine coaster, cable car, highline 179, forest experience ziegelweis. So many cool things to see and do

This all sounds exciting and you will have fun no matter where you are there! We didn't have Munich planned, but did Sindelfigen, Stuttgart, Hohenstauffen and Schwangau -- each place we enjoyed, but the Bavarian area with the castles was my favorite!