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

[becauseimnew]

I booked our thanksgiving hotel stay through the AA website because I want to earn those bonus points to maintain Gold status. When we checked in to the holiday inn the receptionist asked for my IHG number, but she said we probably wouldn’t get the nights since we booked 3rd party. I earned 3,500 IHG points and 4,100 AA miles.

 

[hsmamato2]

I haven’t experienced this personally, but I’ve heard MANY stories from folks I trust that they are SUPER strict. And if your personal item is too big at the gate, they charge you something like $90-100 to carry on or check it.

Haha I figured..... I have a backpack/case that is the EXACT measurements they give on the website, I'll be careful not to overstuff it! Will a waistpack cause a problem? If it's under a jacket?

 

[miztressuz]

I’m cancelling a couple of Amex biz cards soon (Biz gold and Marriott), I’ll still have a personal gold, but would like to have a no fee keeper card in the mix. Figured I should apply before I cancel the others to help avoid the pop-up. I’m thinking blue cash everyday. I just dropped to 2/24 so I’m ok using a slot.
If I eventually cancel my personal gold would I still be able to transfer to travel partners with just the blue cash everyday? Is there a better no AF card I should be going for?

The Blue CASH Everyday card is literally cash back. It will not keep MR points nor will it allow MR transfers to trav
el partners (I mean, if that's your only card, then you won't have any MR points to transfer anyway ...) AmEx is different than Chase where AmEx says Cash they mean Cash. They are a separate program from Membership Rewards. AMEX can be confusing since they have similar cards in each program, but the way you tell is the "Cash" in the card name.

Fee free MR cards that transfer to travel partners are -
Everyday card (ED)
Blue Business PLUS card (BBP)

Similar names to the Blue Cash Everyday (BCE) and the Blue Business Cash (BBC), but completely different programs. Which you pick will depend on what works best for you, but most suggest the BBP. It has a higher sign up bonus, earns 2x on everything up to 50k per year (1x after), and you don't have to worry about a 5/24 spot. Check for targeted offers of 50-75k for the BBP.
(ETA other bonus for BBP is being able to add employees to transfer points to other loyalty accounts without using a 5/24 spot. We each have a BBP and we're AU/employees on the other so we can transfer points from either account into any partner account. )

The Everyday card has its place but it typically has a small bonus 10k-15k. You can play a little upgrade downgrade offer game with it and the AF version Everyday Preferred. But it's still potentially a weaker option. However, everyone is different so it might work out. I happen to have both but my ED card was a forced PC from an old old discontinued Blue Student card. So it's one of my credit anchors for age of accounts. Otherwise I use it for AmEx offers and 2x grocery when I forget my other cards.

 

[Psychodisney]

For the last few years the offer has been consistent at 65k/4k. Last time it was at 75k it was a slightly lower spend at 5k in 5 months, but given how MSRs have been trending the increase isn't totally unexpected. That's when I picked it up, but I took most of the MSR period to meet it so I'm not eligible for another few months.

On the Citi side I don't think this card has been higher. Since there are limited ways to generate AA miles this is usually considered a great offer given that it won't interfere with 5/24. It's only recently that the Citi personal version made an offer of points that high (and with limited application windows), so if you were trying to accumulate a stash of AA, a 75k biz offer was useful even with the higher spend.

Will they allow a business and a personal card?

 

[LilSweetPeaPhoto]

Is it bad that when I was looking at the sign up for the family my son's hockey team adopted I chose the GC option since I have 10% back at OD and I can get 5x URs? LOL.

I swear being on the varsity hockey team is killing us! Fundraisers galore! $4k for the season, and probably another $500 in various fundraisers and other crap we have to buy. UGH. And I have 4 glorious years of this! UGH. Anyone want a raffle ticket? LOL.

In other news, I went to the "other" WM by school yesterday. I wasn't thinking and asked to load $200 and it worked! I wasn't prepared w/ another card to load $400. DOH! I don't know why my local one $200 worked and then didn't. And then I had to do $99/loads. I think today I'm going to try and hit a FD and load $500. That's still working, right? I haven't done FD since summer since none are close. I have $600 more in VCG I need to cycle. I swear it's not worth the effort. But remind me of it, when I'm hopefully in Mexico on Monday using our FNCs, LOL.

 

[miztressuz]

Will they allow a business and a personal card?

Yep! All the AA cards work on their own timelines and there's no "family" rule that prevents getting more than one. They don't even block between issuers, so can get all the Citi and all the Barclays. Just be sure to follow the bonus eligibility rules and you're fine. Unfortunately, all the Citi options have 48 months between bonuses, so you can only do each once every 4 years. I think Barclays is shorter but at the moment it only has the one personal card open for applications.

 

[NewbieMom]

Anyone having trouble with the Aspire credits? I used the $200 flight credit earlier in the year, and made a $49 flight purchase on 11/18. The $50 meter hasn't moved and no credit yet. Next up, I'm going to try the resort credit. I think my reset date is sometime around mid-Nov, and I have a resort stay over Xmas.

 

[Psychodisney]

Yep! All the AA cards work on their own timelines and there's no "family" rule that prevents getting more than one. They don't even block between issuers, so can get all the Citi and all the Barclays. Just be sure to follow the bonus eligibility rules and you're fine. Unfortunately, all the Citi options have 48 months between bonuses, so you can only do each once every 4 years. I think Barclays is shorter but at the moment it only has the one personal card open for applications.

Perfect! Trying to branch out from SW since they keep trimming their schedule. I applied for a United card last week and got the 7-10 day message. Tried recon with no info. Just waiting for my letter. Figure I'll go for the AA as I got a mailing last week.

 

[Psychodisney]

If anyone has an upcoming car rental, check your reservation! It's "Travel Tuesday". Costco has a shop card promo going on for Budget. Helps for my Feb car rental.

 

[EACarlson]

I’m cancelling a couple of Amex biz cards soon (Biz gold and Marriott), I’ll still have a personal gold, but would like to have a no fee keeper card in the mix. Figured I should apply before I cancel the others to help avoid the pop-up. I’m thinking blue cash everyday. I just dropped to 2/24 so I’m ok using a slot.
If I eventually cancel my personal gold would I still be able to transfer to travel partners with just the blue cash everyday? Is there a better no AF card I should be going for?

The no fee keeper card you should be looking at is the Blue Business Plus. As @miztressuz pointed out above the BCE does not have anything to do with MR. The BBP is a flat 2x MR per dollar.

 

[jujubiee4]

Something really weird happened. I logged into DH's Hyatt account, because I'm getting ready to transfer some URs to book a hotel. He should have 0 pts, but instead it shows 13,000. I transferred 13k URs back in June to his account, and then booked a hotel with those points. DH was not going on the trip, so we then contacted Hyatt and had them move the reservation to my name so I could stay without him, but it still used his points. Well, the points are now back in his account like they were never used. I have no points in my account whatsoever, no FNC that could have been used, nothing. I wasn't charged anything for the stay either. How weird. Anyone ever had this happen? It's not a lot of points, but it will cover one night for our upcoming trip, so it was surprising to find.

Some weird glitches going on with them. I used my annual free night back back in July. They still
have not taken it. I have emailed twice and called once about it. Still there. I feel guilty because I had
booked a standard room and they upgraded us to a beautiful suite. DH says stop contacting them they
will prob claw back in the future.

 

[Crazed4DisneyinSC]

It happened to me before for a Guest of Honor reservation for my friend (my points, reservation for her). For one, they eventually took the points. I think it was before the stay. They never did for the other.

Some weird glitches going on with them. I used my annual free night back back in July. They still
have not taken it. I have emailed twice and called once about it. Still there. I feel guilty because I had
booked a standard room and they upgraded us to a beautiful suite. DH says stop contacting them they
will prob claw back in the future.

Yeah, I'm just wondering if I should use the points on our upcoming hotel resy, or will that get me in trouble with Hyatt if they come trying to claw back in the future? @wanderlust7 did you eventually use the points they never took out?

 

[becauseimnew]

Will they allow a business and a personal card?

yes, I have the personal card and was approved for the business card yesterday.

 

[newski_mom]

The Blue CASH Everyday card is literally cash back. It will not keep MR points nor will it allow MR transfers to trav
el partners (I mean, if that's your only card, then you won't have any MR points to transfer anyway ...) AmEx is different than Chase where AmEx says Cash they mean Cash. They are a separate program from Membership Rewards. AMEX can be confusing since they have similar cards in each program, but the way you tell is the "Cash" in the card name.

Fee free MR cards that transfer to travel partners are -
Everyday card (ED)
Blue Business PLUS card (BBP)

Similar names to the Blue Cash Everyday (BCE) and the Blue Business Cash (BBC), but completely different programs. Which you pick will depend on what works best for you, but most suggest the BBP. It has a higher sign up bonus, earns 2x on everything up to 50k per year (1x after), and you don't have to worry about a 5/24 spot. Check for targeted offers of 50-75k for the BBP.
(ETA other bonus for BBP is being able to add employees to transfer points to other loyalty accounts without using a 5/24 spot. We each have a BBP and we're AU/employees on the other so we can transfer points from either account into any partner account. )

The Everyday card has its place but it typically has a small bonus 10k-15k. You can play a little upgrade downgrade offer game with it and the AF version Everyday Preferred. But it's still potentially a weaker option. However, everyone is different so it might work out. I happen to have both but my ED card was a forced PC from an old old discontinued Blue Student card. So it's one of my credit anchors for age of accounts. Otherwise I use it for AmEx offers and 2x grocery when I forget my other cards.

The no fee keeper card you should be looking at is the Blue Business Plus. As @miztressuz pointed out above the BCE does not have anything to do with MR. The BBP is a flat 2x MR per dollar.

Thanks - I didn't originally ask the question, but I'm planning on cancelling my plat (and probably gold) personal cards when the annual fees come due. I do have a checking account with AmEx, so I don't think it would lose my points, but I don't think they are as valuable without the CCs.

I do have an offer for 50,000 MR with $15,000 spend in 12 months with the BBP. I don't really want to spend the $15k, but with an entire year, I could use it when I am not working on another SUB I suppose. Or worst case, I could just get the card and not earn the SUB, but that just seems wrong lol!

 

[EACarlson]

Thanks - I didn't originally ask the question, but I'm planning on cancelling my plat (and probably gold) personal cards when the annual fees come due. I do have a checking account with AmEx, so I don't think it would lose my points, but I don't think they are as valuable without the CCs.

I do have an offer for 50,000 MR with $15,000 spend in 12 months with the BBP. I don't really want to spend the $15k, but with an entire year, I could use it when I am not working on another SUB I suppose. Or worst case, I could just get the card and not earn the SUB, but that just seems wrong lol!

Before my "business" became a business, I would use my BBP for 2x MR on non category spend. Now I only use it on actual business spend.

 

[wanderlust7]

Yeah, I'm just wondering if I should use the points on our upcoming hotel resy, or will that get me in trouble with Hyatt if they come trying to claw back in the future? @wanderlust7 did you eventually use the points they never took out?

Before the stay, I made sure the points were there. I kept checking the reservations were still there too. Wouldn't want my friend to not be able to check-in! After the stay, I've used the points, but I usually have enough in the account that they could take the points if they wanted to. I think it's less likely after the stay, though I came across this very old DP of points being deducted 9 months after the stay! Link I guess it would go negative and then you could pay them back?

Some weird glitches going on with them. I used my annual free night back back in July. They still
have not taken it. I have emailed twice and called once about it. Still there. I feel guilty because I had
booked a standard room and they upgraded us to a beautiful suite. DH says stop contacting them they
will prob claw back in the future.

I've had that happen too lol. Asked to have FNC reservations in my account be under DH's name to make sure we get Globalist benefits. They had to ask the hotel for permission because the category changed. The 2 nights appeared in DH's account and my FNCs became available again. We would have needed to go out of our way to use them, so I didn't and they expired. It's sometimes possible to ask for points for expired FNC if they're not Chase ones, so that crossed my mind, but I decided against it. If they ever ask for them, I can point to the fact that I never used the FNCs.

 

[KPK02090]

The Blue CASH Everyday card is literally cash back. It will not keep MR points nor will it allow MR transfers to trav
el partners (I mean, if that's your only card, then you won't have any MR points to transfer anyway ...) AmEx is different than Chase where AmEx says Cash they mean Cash. They are a separate program from Membership Rewards. AMEX can be confusing since they have similar cards in each program, but the way you tell is the "Cash" in the card name.

Fee free MR cards that transfer to travel partners are -
Everyday card (ED)
Blue Business PLUS card (BBP)

Similar names to the Blue Cash Everyday (BCE) and the Blue Business Cash (BBC), but completely different programs. Which you pick will depend on what works best for you, but most suggest the BBP. It has a higher sign up bonus, earns 2x on everything up to 50k per year (1x after), and you don't have to worry about a 5/24 spot. Check for targeted offers of 50-75k for the BBP.
(ETA other bonus for BBP is being able to add employees to transfer points to other loyalty accounts without using a 5/24 spot. We each have a BBP and we're AU/employees on the other so we can transfer points from either account into any partner account. )

The Everyday card has its place but it typically has a small bonus 10k-15k. You can play a little upgrade downgrade offer game with it and the AF version Everyday Preferred. But it's still potentially a weaker option. However, everyone is different so it might work out. I happen to have both but my ED card was a forced PC from an old old discontinued Blue Student card. So it's one of my credit anchors for age of accounts. Otherwise I use it for AmEx offers and 2x grocery when I forget my other cards.

The no fee keeper card you should be looking at is the Blue Business Plus. As @miztressuz pointed out above the BCE does not have anything to do with MR. The BBP is a flat 2x MR per dollar.

So glad I asked here before applying. I’ll be going for the BBP! Thanks so much for the advice!

 

[calypso726]

Hey y'all, if you could buy a business class fare on Qatar, one way for $1316 from your home airport to the Maldives/Middle East/Africa, including seat selection and lounge access, would you jump on that? Plus I'd earn 6500 Amex points for the purchase.
Or Japan Airlines biz class one way from Tokyo to home airport for $1172?

These are just a few examples if I bought American Airlines points during their promotion through 11/27 for 1.88cpp. I'm seriously considering it because they are so value and so hard to come by. There hasn't been a lower price offered since 2021. Thoughts?

I would absolutely do that.

 

[georgina]

If anyone has an upcoming car rental, check your reservation! It's "Travel Tuesday". Costco has a shop card promo going on for Budget. Helps for my Feb car rental.

$25 shop card for travel through 3/31/24. Didn't help me as I would have to upgrade to a full-size, which is almost $25 more than my current Alamo compact reservation. But thanks for posting, may help someone else!

Travel Tuesday didn't help DH much, he and a friend had covid credits from a twice-cancelled Cayman Islands scuba boat trip. They finally booked it for a BVI trip this summer, cheapest RT airfare from DC to Tortola is over $1000! Crazy

 

[becauseimnew]

DH's AA Executive card renewal posted, it posted at $450 not the new $550. Anyone think the card is a keeper?

We have used the lounge about 3 times in the last 12 months. I would say that's about $200 worth of airport food, I missed out on the opportunity to use the $120 Avis/Budget credit - I have a car reservation for our trip to Disney next week but parking at the WA Orlando is $45/night so I'm thinking we might as well just Uber.
We haven't used the $10 Grubhub monthly credit. We will be flying AA twice next year, but once we'll have lounge access with our J tickets. DH is flying AA in Jan so he will probably be able to use the lounge.
Am I missing another benefit?