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

[havaneselover]

You can, but they would be separate reservations. You'll need to call in to use the free night certificate. Not sure how long you want to stay, but you can get 5th night free on points (can't be combined with the FNC).

Which Hilton are you looking at? The Conrad would be a good deal with the FNC as points cost is high. The Hilton Tokyo Bay less so since the standard room doesn't cost as much in points.

Hilton Tokyo Odaiba but I’ll look at the Conrad. I would need a few more points for the Conrad but that shouldn’t be a problem.

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

Hilton Tokyo Odaiba but I’ll look at the Conrad. I would need a few more points for the Conrad but that shouldn’t be a problem.

Hilton Tokyo Odaiba is a bit far from most of the main sites, have you looked at the Hilton Tokyo (Shinjuku)? It's in a great location and gets good reviews on FT. It is one that I strongly considered.

 

[havaneselover]

Hilton Tokyo Odaiba is a bit far from most of the main sites, have you looked at the Hilton Tokyo (Shinjuku)? It's in a great location and gets good reviews on FT. It is one that I strongly considered.

Ok—I will give that a look. Thank you!

 

[Haley R]

Have any of you been to Rothenburg in Germany?

 

[Jayunit09]

Currently starting our chase trifecta journey. (CSP, CFF, CFU). We like that it transfers to southwest and jetblue since they are the two that our local airports use that we like.

My career is in grocery, our highest spend (13-14k annually) is groceries, this is because I work at a supermarket so we buy most non food essentials there as well, 300 a month on gas and then around 2k a month on everything else I can charge (dining, bills etc)

Should we have chosen the blue cash preferred and blue cash everyday combo from Amex and just used the cash back for flights?

Is there another combo we may like?

I did debate opening a CFF for my wife for a 2nd 5x back in the rotating categories.

Thank you for your time, sorry for the long post. I love this community and trying to learn.

 

[Sheree]

Have any of you been to Rothenburg in Germany?

I remember driving thru!

 

[SleepyatDVC]

So, my Dad has a legacy Amex Traditional Gold Card opened in 1971, AF $95. My Mom and I are AUs at around $35/year each.

He added me when I was 18 and therefore, I have credit history almost as old as my age! When I opened my own Amex Hilton and Delta cards, they all state that I have been a card member since 1971.

I just checked and he gets 4x supermarkets and restaurants but no other real gold card benefits.

He is pre-approved on the website log in to upgrade his card to a Plat for 100K/$6k/6mths or to a regular Gold for 40K.

I am not sure if he should upgrade or just apply separately and keep his grandfathered Amex Gold open. If he ever had to down grade from Plat, he could never get that lowly AF again.

Any thoughts?

 

[Haley R]

I remember driving thru!

We’re thinking about doing a day trip there from Nuremberg but it’ll depend how we’re feeling by that point. It looks really cool

 

[IFlossU]

Currently starting our chase trifecta journey. (CSP, CFF, CFU). We like that it transfers to southwest and jetblue since they are the two that our local airports use that we like.

My career is in grocery, our highest spend (13-14k annually) is groceries, this is because I work at a supermarket so we buy most non food essentials there as well, 300 a month on gas and then around 2k a month on everything else I can charge (dining, bills etc)

Should we have chosen the blue cash preferred and blue cash everyday combo from Amex and just used the cash back for flights?

Is there another combo we may like?

I did debate opening a CFF for my wife for a 2nd 5x back in the rotating categories.

Thank you for your time, sorry for the long post. I love this community and trying to learn.

Every bank has some group of cards that work together to maximize points earning in their own currency. I don’t think there’s any one that’s better than another. It’s comes down to which points currency you value most. Or even cash back if you find value in it. If Ultimate Rewards work best for your travel plans then that’s where you should focus your energy. I do generally think it’s good to have a nice mix of points available, but if I wasn’t planning on signing up for new cards all the time I would try to stick with maximizing the program that is most useful for me.

 

[Jayunit09]

Every bank has some group of cards that work together to maximize points earning in their own currency. I don’t think there’s any one that’s better than another. It’s comes down to which points currency you value most. Or even cash back if you find value in it. If Ultimate Rewards work best for your travel plans then that’s where you should focus your energy. I do generally think it’s good to have a nice mix of points available, but if I wasn’t planning on signing up for new cards all the time I would try to stick with maximizing the program that is most useful for me.

Thank you. I was tying to figure out which program is most useful. I would like to stick with one group only for now. I guess try the chase cards and see how they are after a year.

 

[Sheree]

We’re thinking about doing a day trip there from Nuremberg but it’ll depend how we’re feeling by that point. It looks really cool

You will love Nuremburg! so much history there. we also walked to the courthouse where the trials were held. I think we passed that road sign on our way from the airport to Nuremburg. So many towns in Germany are beautiful

 

[AmyAnne]

I'm pretty sure I am going to be buying an Apple watch from Costco. I'm now figuring out the best credit card strategy to pay for it. Office Depot has their usual discounted Visa gift card deal this week, so I'm thinking I could use a few of those and get 5 UR/$1 using a Chase biz card. My only worry is whether using a credit card directly would be smarter for purposes of a warranty.

It's been a long time since I've bought something and thought about the warranty for using a credit card. Is there a particular credit card that would be useful for this purchase? And if so, could I use it to pay for part of the purchase (and use the Visa gift cards for the rest)?

 

[iujen94]

Hi credit card peeps, I’ve got a situation I’m pretty sure I know the answer to, but if anyone knows a way around it, it’s you guys!

My daughter is leaving daycare for all day Kindergarten. Until now, we have always put monthly daycare cost on a card to help meet MSR or for 1.5x through CFU.

The new place only takes payment via ACH or check, and it is a hefty tuition cost each month. Is there any strategy to still earn points gia direct payment? The only think I can think of is a money order purchased with a credit card, but I’m not sure this fancy-a** place will take a money order. I’ve gotten spoiled and can’t bear the thought of so much money each month not counting towards something!

So they don’t take credit cards at all, even with a processing fee? My kids’ school has a 2.85% fee for using credit cards. I buy no fee VGC and MCGC at Staples with my CIC at 5x, so even with the fee, I end up 2x ahead. And yes, it takes forever to pay tuition $200 at a time

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Has anyone booked a WDW room with the Citi Travel portal (runs on booking dot com)? I booked one night in Nov with Citi because it's not eligible for any of the Disney discounts. The Citi cash price is less and I'm getting 10x points for the booking. I can't link my reservation to MDE. I called Citi Travel, and they said I had to call Disney for them to look up the reservation and get the number. I tried that. The cast member attempted to look up the reservation and couldn't find it. He told me to call Citi and get them to agree to do a conference call with Disney wholesale. Does that sound right?

This might help you. I saved it from a few years back and was able to do this with a res I made via a travel portal. The Wholesale Direct agent was immediately able to see my reservation. Hopefully it still works.

 

[djmeredith]

My AmEx Gold annual fee just posted. I did a chat and they offered 15K MR for $2,000 spend. I did't take it because I wasn't sure if that was good. In addition to this card, I also have the personal Plat, Aspire, and CSP that all have annual fees. I am definitely keeping the CSP and Aspire. Therefore, I'm not sure there is a benefit to keeping the Gold (or Plat). I know I am not eligible for a SUB on these cards in the future, but could I get the card again a couple of years from now if I needed the benefits again for some reason?

 

[Haley R]

You will love Nuremburg! so much history there. we also walked to the courthouse where the trials were held. I think we passed that road sign on our way from the airport to Nuremburg. So many towns in Germany are beautiful

We’re staying in Nuremberg for a few nights. I’m excited to take ds to Playmobil land lol

 

[platamama]

I'm pretty sure I am going to be buying an Apple watch from Costco. I'm now figuring out the best credit card strategy to pay for it. Office Depot has their usual discounted Visa gift card deal this week, so I'm thinking I could use a few of those and get 5 UR/$1 using a Chase biz card. My only worry is whether using a credit card directly would be smarter for purposes of a warranty.

It's been a long time since I've bought something and thought about the warranty for using a credit card. Is there a particular credit card that would be useful for this purchase? And if so, could I use it to pay for part of the purchase (and use the Visa gift cards for the rest)?

CC companies keep changing their extended warranty policies, e.g. Costco Visa used to be really good but no longer offers extended warranties on purchases from Jan 22 2023 onwards. So if you have a particular CC you're thinking of using, you have to search for the up-to-date benefits. In the past when I've looked into it, I think most cards only cover up to the amount you paid on the CC.

Here is a write-up but it's from 2020 (although it's where I learned about Costco Visa dropping extended warranty this year):

https://frequentmiler.com/best-credit-card-purchase-protections/

 

[MouseOfCards]

We recently completed our first Hyatt brand journey (staying at 5 different Hyatt brand properties) and immediately received the 1 free night award. Our kiddies now think that all hotels are Hyatt hotels.

 

[MouseOfCards]

Sharing my experience with the Bilt MC:

Was recently approved for the card. On the day of delivery, received an email stating that I would earn 5X points (up to 50K) on all eligible purchases (excluding rent) for the next 5 days. For "eligible purchases" it stated "meals, online purchases, trips, gas, and much more". Quickly took advantage of this. Every purchase put on the card earned 5X.

At the end of the 5 days, received another email stating "earn 5x on select categories for the next 60 days". There was no listing of which categories were included so I assumed everything except rent. Was very excited about this and started planning how to move all my expenses to the card for the next couple of months. However, later in the day, received a follow-up email explaining that the last email was sent out too early by mistake and that I would be getting another 5X offer soon.

2 days later, received an email that I would get 5X points for the next 60 days on all spend on select streaming services. Not very exciting. Oh, well.

Have others been getting personalized offers from Bilt like I did?

 

[happ]

This might help you. I saved it from a few years back and was able to do this with a res I made via a travel portal. The Wholesale Direct agent was immediately able to see my reservation. Hopefully it still works.
View attachment 777435

Thank you!!!