I love credit cards so much!

[Albort]

I have to admit, before I found this thread, I came to Disboards only when I had a trip on the horizon. Checked out the latest FP info, checked the thread about whatever hotel I booked, etc. Now I come here pretty much every day, just to check this thread, see what info is here and what people are up to. It's informative & great fun with lots of interesting friendly people.

i remember when the thread first started, i think @calypso726 was the only one thats been doing this. I knew a little bit. Now you guys are all experts and beyond me...
its great you guys learned it, im still trying to get my family involved haha.

 

[Dugette]

I am actually at 4/24 now, and could get the CSR UR points to use for other redemptions, but then I'm totally done until late in 2019, at which point we would prob wait until 2020 to start over with SW. I haven't paid for a flight in nearly two years now, so I will need another way to get airfare!!!

If you want one of the Chase cards that goes by 5/24, double check that and make sure that you apply for the Chase card next if you are at 4/24 (I saw your other post about getting Hyatt and Hilton). My understanding is that 5/24 is too much. I am at 5/24 until the end of the year and sometimes want to just TRY to get a CSP to see what happens, but all the data points I've found say to wait and there's not chance. However, I think you can apply for multiple Chase cards on the same day when you are at 4/24 and get approved.

How many cards has your DH opened in the last 24 months? That's how I got us a CSR, haha.

Also, you said you got 5 cards all by June 2017. That means a lot of them will fall off around the same time too, so might be sensible to get several cards ASAP if they won't push back your <5/24 date by much? Especially if you have remodel costs to pay.

 

[belle1986]

I've got 40k spg points I want to transfer to aa for flights in January. When should I transfer them? Does it take awhile to post? Thanks!

 

[peel]

I have to admit, before I found this thread, I came to Disboards only when I had a trip on the horizon. Checked out the latest FP info, checked the thread about whatever hotel I booked, etc. Now I come here pretty much every day, just to check this thread, see what info is here and what people are up to. It's informative & great fun with lots of interesting friendly people.

Sometimes I forget that this is a Disney board, and when people talk about using their points for Disney related travel my first thought is, 'Cool, a fellow Disney fan!".

 

[calypso726]

I've got 40k spg points I want to transfer to aa for flights in January. When should I transfer them? Does it take awhile to post? Thanks!

SPG time to transfer depends on the airline you are transferring to. When we transferred ours to Singapore it took roughly 7 or so days. AA usually takes about 2 days.

I would suggest putting your flights on a 5 day hold especially if they are saver awards.

 

[belle1986]

I would suggest putting your flights on a 5 day hold especially if they are saver awards.

That's a good idea! Thank you

 

[Calfan]

Just thought I'd share a mini travel hacking success. We are doing the Southern California: Disney Backstage, Hollywood and Disneyland Adventures by Disney trip next August. We plan to head down to SoCal two nights early to do a day at Universal Studios Hollywood. Reservations opened up a couple of weeks ago for the Hilton Los Angeles/Universal City, which is right across the street from Universal Studios. Anticipating wanting to make this reservation, I had gotten the Hilton Amex Surpass card with a 100,000 point sign-up bonus. When reservations for the hotel for our dates opened up, no points bookings were showing up so I went ahead and reserved a room just to have it. I chose a corner king corner room with sofa bed because we are a family of four. Cash cost: $811.52. I had called the hotel to find out about points bookings and was told those would likely open up in a couple of weeks. That was today. This morning, I booked a 2-queen room for 100,000 points for two nights (50,000 points per night) and cancelled my cash ressie. While I realize the two rooms aren't quite apples to apples, I'm still treating this as an $800+ savings from travel hacking. Plan accomplished

 

[mousehappync]

If you want one of the Chase cards that goes by 5/24, double check that and make sure that you apply for the Chase card next if you are at 4/24 (I saw your other post about getting Hyatt and Hilton). My understanding is that 5/24 is too much. I am at 5/24 until the end of the year and sometimes want to just TRY to get a CSP to see what happens, but all the data points I've found say to wait and there's not chance. However, I think you can apply for multiple Chase cards on the same day when you are at 4/24 and get approved.

How many cards has your DH opened in the last 24 months? That's how I got us a CSR, haha.

Also, you said you got 5 cards all by June 2017. That means a lot of them will fall off around the same time too, so might be sensible to get several cards ASAP if they won't push back your <5/24 date by much? Especially if you have remodel costs to pay.

Ah! Yes, you are so right--I totally should apply for that first. I need to make a spreadsheet for this-- and it's time to dump some cards, too. Weekend project! I am just so shocked that we can open those three cards (two no-AF, one $75 fee) and stay for six nights in PR, two at the Waldorf, for free, including our four free SW flights. I mean--really??? This hobby is way better than knitting or something

 

[Dugette]

This hobby is way better than knitting or something

I love this! (And totally agree - nobody IRL really can comprehend that we have so many free nights in France, etc., but this seems WAY easier than knitting to me. )

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

Hit the $2k spend on the IHG card. Sent a SM to Chase for the match and they responded within an hour stating that the extra 20k points would be reflected on my next statement. The statement closes Sept. 4, so I should see all 100k points added, plus the extra from the spend. I already got credited for the 5k bonus for adding when my August statement closed. Very happy to have picked up this card and these points should be useful

Now we can decide when we want to open the CSP for DH. Still crossing my fingers for an increased bonus in September.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Hit the $2k spend on the IHG card. Sent a SM to Chase for the match and they responded within an hour stating that the extra 20k points would be reflected on my next statement. The statement closes Sept. 4, so I should see all 100k points added, plus the extra from the spend. I already got credited for the 5k bonus for adding when my August statement closed. Very happy to have picked up this card and these points should be useful

Now we can decide when we want to open the CSP for DH. Still crossing my fingers for an increased bonus in September.

And don't forget to add an AU on CSP. I applied via referral so I didn't think I'd qualify but I SMd and they said I'd get 5,000 points. Points posted before the card even arrived!

 

[ski_mom]

Trying to decide which direction to head next. DH and I are maxed out for Chase. We were each approved for the City TY Premier in the last couple of weeks. I'd like to get each of us at least one more card because we have a large expense coming up, so it will be easy to meet minimum spends. We do not have anything from AmEx (other than I have a Macy's card that the converted to a MC a few years back), so I'd kind of like to get something from them to see if we get any of the great offers. Or, I was thinking about the Barclay Arrival Plus or Capital One Venture because they would be easy to get our travel expenses taken care of.

Just wondering thoughts on those or other advice.

Our big spend is paying for our oldest DDs study abroad. She is doing a Semester at Sea and the university it is through allows online credit card payments with no fees!! We will be flying as a family to San Diego to see her off and DH and I are flying to Germany when her semester is over. We have all the flights taken care of from other cards we have. We really have no plans while in Europe, so any points could go toward that and/or our hotel, etc in San Diego. That being said, we still have a lot of UR points from all our Chase cards that are available to use as well.

Thanks!

 

[gottalovepluto]

Trying to decide which direction to head next. DH and I are maxed out for Chase. We were each approved for the City TY Premier in the last couple of weeks. I'd like to get each of us at least one more card because we have a large expense coming up, so it will be easy to meet minimum spends. We do not have anything from AmEx (other than I have a Macy's card that the converted to a MC a few years back), so I'd kind of like to get something from them to see if we get any of the great offers. Or, I was thinking about the Barclay Arrival Plus or Capital One Venture because they would be easy to get our travel expenses taken care of.

Just wondering thoughts on those or other advice.

Our big spend is paying for our oldest DDs study abroad. She is doing a Semester at Sea and the university it is through allows online credit card payments with no fees!! We will be flying as a family to San Diego to see her off and DH and I are flying to Germany when her semester is over. We have all the flights taken care of from other cards we have. We really have no plans while in Europe, so any points could go toward that and/or our hotel, etc in San Diego. That being said, we still have a lot of UR points from all our Chase cards that are available to use as well.

Thanks!

I'd hit up whatever is most inquiry sensitive first. I have NO idea about Amex, hopefully others can chime in. Arrival+ is apparently getting more inquiry sensitive so I chose that card for my first post-Chase card. Don't know what I'll spend the points on yet but I know I'll have some type of travel expenses next year. Just remember for that bonus I think the charge has to be at least $100 so it's best put towards large bills, like a hotel.

 

[WVMomof3]

Completed my Marriott spend on 8/10 and my statement closed 8/16. For some reason the bonus will not post till September. Have no immediate need for it, but just a data point for others that may be relying on the points right away.

 

[mfly]

Now we can decide when we want to open the CSP for DH. Still crossing my fingers for an increased bonus in September.

Do you remember where you saw something regarding a potential bonus increase for the CSP?

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

Do you remember where you saw something regarding a potential bonus increase for the CSP?

Someone on this thread mentioned it. I don't remember what their source was, but I believe they said they had seen rumors.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Thinking of Barclay Arrival + next. I know it's a statement credit, but can you decide when to credit, like Discover? It doesn't automatically credit when you have a travel charge, like the travel credit on CSR, correct?
Going to work on cash back type awards to apply towards cruise.

 

[elgerber]

Thinking of Barclay Arrival + next. I know it's a statement credit, but can you decide when to credit, like Discover? It doesn't automatically credit when you have a travel charge, like the travel credit on CSR, correct?
Going to work on cash back type awards to apply towards cruise.

This is correct. When you go in to redeem your rewards, it shows you a list of items that are eligible and how many miles it will take. You can then select the one you want to redeem it for, or wait and redeem at another time.
It does have to be a travel item in order to redeem, and the minimum redemption is 10000 miles, so you can redeem for a small charge under $100.

 

[Eighty8Keys]

Thinking of Barclay Arrival + next. I know it's a statement credit, but can you decide when to credit, like Discover? It doesn't automatically credit when you have a travel charge, like the travel credit on CSR, correct?
Going to work on cash back type awards to apply towards cruise.

You can choose when to redeem your miles, but you only have 120 days to do it. The list shows you how many days left you have to redeem against a particular transaction. You can only redeem against a transaction one time. You also get 5% of your redeemed points back and they show up in your account immediately. Since you have to redeem a minimum of 10,000 points, I'm trying to use my them as strategically as possible so I'm left with as few points as possible. Redeeming all 58,000 of my points at once would leave with me a 2,600 point balance after the 5% redemption bonus and I couldn't do anything with those points. All of my points are going towards my stay at the Poly next January and I'll need every one of them.

Edited to correct my example of the 5% redemption bonus from 5,800 which would be 10% to 2,600.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

You can choose when to redeem your miles, but you only have 120 days to do it. The list shows you how many days left you have to redeem against a particular transaction. You can only redeem against a transaction one time. You also get 5% of your redeemed points back and they show up in your account immediately. Since you have to redeem a minimum of 10,000 points, I'm trying to use my them as strategically as possible so I'm left with as few points as possible. Redeeming all 58,000 of my points at once would leave with me a 5,800 point balance after the 5% redemption bonus and I couldn't do anything with those points. All of my points are going towards my stay at the Poly next January and I'll need every one of them.

So if I put a deposit on a cruise, I could redeem 50k points ($500) against it. Then after accruing more points, I could make a payment & redeem points against a new charge? The transaction needs to be less than 120 days right, not the points are only good for 120 days? Just trying to make sure I understand