I love credit cards so much!

[Lain]

Do you think I would have an issue buying a large ($900) gift card on CashCard for part of a minimum spend on my AMEX Honors surpass? It's a legit purchase, a Target card I want to use for Disney Gift cards, but I don't want AMEX to freak.

The only relevant DPs I've seen recently is Simon Malls Visa gift cards no longer count towards minimum spend for a signup bonus. CardCash should be fine. I met my last Amex MSR with Raise mixed in with organic spend.

 

[elgerber]

The only relevant DPs I've seen recently is Simon Malls Visa gift cards no longer count towards minimum spend for a signup bonus. CardCash should be fine. I met my last Amex MSR with Raise mixed in with organic spend.

Thank you!

 

[brownhaired_girl]

I looked for it before our last flight to MCO. We live an hour from the Denver airport and our flight out was at 6:15am. With 4 kids, I was trying to find a place to stay close to the airport where we could also park our car. I couldn't find the park, stay and fly rates on UR.

Well... I spent a bit of time yesterday and found a Hyatt near the airport that had a park/sleep/fly option. I transferred 8,000 points to my Hyatt account and made a reservation. I called the hotel this morning and confirmed that this is actually a park/sleep/fly reservation. For me this ended up being a good use of points. This reservation allows 7 days of parking. I'm not sure if a points+cash would work for this but I might check that out next.

 

[AmyAnne]

I need some input from you all experts. The kid who wasn't going to come home for Thanksgiving is now saying he is coming home. I can get a Delta flight for 27,000 skymiles (plus $95 because I don't have 35,000 skymiles) or 32,000 UR points. I understand there's no simple way to transfer UR points to Delta. Money-wise, I would prefer to use the UR points (because that would be $0 OOP), but then the flight would be booked through a third-party carrier rather than directly through Delta. So my question is, is it worth $95 to have the flight booked directly through Delta? He will have a connection in Atlanta, where all things that can go wrong are quite likely to go wrong, especially in November on Thanksgiving weekend. If he missed a connection, for example, how much better off would he be with an award ticket as opposed to a third-party ticket?

 

[kmc8826]

I need some input from you all experts. The kid who wasn't going to come home for Thanksgiving is now saying he is coming home. I can get a Delta flight for 27,000 skymiles (plus $95 because I don't have 35,000 skymiles) or 32,000 UR points. I understand there's no simple way to transfer UR points to Delta. Money-wise, I would prefer to use the UR points (because that would be $0 OOP), but then the flight would be booked through a third-party carrier rather than directly through Delta. So my question is, is it worth $95 to have the flight booked directly through Delta? He will have a connection in Atlanta, where all things that can go wrong are quite likely to go wrong, especially in November on Thanksgiving weekend. If he missed a connection, for example, how much better off would he be with an award ticket as opposed to a third-party ticket?

I would hesitate to use the UR points for the Delta flight and would use skymiles. I am stuck with flying Delta (hub city so always works best and is cheapest). You are right possible drama over Thanksgiving plus then the added part that when you book through Chase it will probably be basic economy (which has a ton of restrictions). If you want to build up your skymiles balance they are having the increased miles right now on the Delta Amex's. I would look at getting one of those cards.

 

[Ngwira]

I need some input from you all experts. The kid who wasn't going to come home for Thanksgiving is now saying he is coming home. I can get a Delta flight for 27,000 skymiles (plus $95 because I don't have 35,000 skymiles) or 32,000 UR points. I understand there's no simple way to transfer UR points to Delta. Money-wise, I would prefer to use the UR points (because that would be $0 OOP), but then the flight would be booked through a third-party carrier rather than directly through Delta. So my question is, is it worth $95 to have the flight booked directly through Delta? He will have a connection in Atlanta, where all things that can go wrong are quite likely to go wrong, especially in November on Thanksgiving weekend. If he missed a connection, for example, how much better off would he be with an award ticket as opposed to a third-party ticket?

Personally, I'd use Delta skypesos over UR . UR are much more valuable than delta miles. In order to prevent booking BE fares on the Chase Portal, you have to cross reference a lot. First, go to Delta site and pick the exact economy fare that you want. Then, go back to Chase portal and find that exact flight and book.

 

[wendow]

Well... I spent a bit of time yesterday and found a Hyatt near the airport that had a park/sleep/fly option. I transferred 8,000 points to my Hyatt account and made a reservation. I called the hotel this morning and confirmed that this is actually a park/sleep/fly reservation. For me this ended up being a good use of points. This reservation allows 7 days of parking. I'm not sure if a points+cash would work for this but I might check that out next.

I'll have to remember this for next time. I'm still having to remind myself about transferring points to travel partners. I forget about that and just get in a habit of checking UR and then moving on.

 

[tink1970]

I need some input from you all experts. The kid who wasn't going to come home for Thanksgiving is now saying he is coming home. I can get a Delta flight for 27,000 skymiles (plus $95 because I don't have 35,000 skymiles) or 32,000 UR points. I understand there's no simple way to transfer UR points to Delta. Money-wise, I would prefer to use the UR points (because that would be $0 OOP), but then the flight would be booked through a third-party carrier rather than directly through Delta. So my question is, is it worth $95 to have the flight booked directly through Delta? He will have a connection in Atlanta, where all things that can go wrong are quite likely to go wrong, especially in November on Thanksgiving weekend. If he missed a connection, for example, how much better off would he be with an award ticket as opposed to a third-party ticket?

I agree with using skymiles. Do you have a co-branded Amex Delta credit card that you're using pay with miles? If so, definitely because then you can ensure he's not flying basic economy AND getting miles (if he has a skymiles membership). Remember, even if YOU pay with YOUR miles HIS account is credited (this is why DD has had a skymiles number since birth, literally). Someday I'm sure he'll return the favor

 

[kmc8826]

I'll have to remember this for next time. I'm still having to remind myself about transferring points to travel partners. I forget about that and just get in a habit of checking UR and then moving on.

Instead of using UR points it is definitely worth remembering to check. For my February Maui trip the Hyatt Regency was coming up around 35,000 points per night. BUT, when I checked about booking the room with Hyatt directly it was only 20,000 points a night. 15,000 points per night is huge! Plus then your reservation is directly with Hyatt and since it is an award stay my understanding is no resort fees. The process of transferring points from DH to me to Hyatt was done in about 5 minutes and was super easy.

 

[AmyAnne]

I would hesitate to use the UR points for the Delta flight and would use skymiles. I am stuck with flying Delta (hub city so always works best and is cheapest). You are right possible drama over Thanksgiving plus then the added part that when you book through Chase it will probably be basic economy (which has a ton of restrictions). If you want to build up your skymiles balance they are having the increased miles right now on the Delta Amex's. I would look at getting one of those cards.

Our airport isn't a hub for anything, so it's hard to predict for any given trip which airline will be best. Lately American has had the best fares/schedule, but for this trip Delta has the best option. All other things being equal, I would much prefer to use skymiles--it's been years since it made sense to use them. Unfortunately I am 10,000 miles short for this trip, otherwise it would be an easy decision. I actually do have the AmEx Delta Gold card-- it's one of my oldest cards (I got it when we lived in a Delta hub). If I knew for sure there would be another Delta flight in my near future, I would think about also getting one of the others, to build up points. But it could well be years before I want to purchase another Delta flight.

Personally, I'd use Delta skypesos over UR . UR are much more valuable than delta miles. In order to prevent booking BE fares on the Chase Portal, you have to cross reference a lot. First, go to Delta site and pick the exact economy fare that you want. Then, go back to Chase portal and find that exact flight and book.

I'm pretty sure that I'm going to book through Delta and pay the $95 rather than book through Chase, but that's helpful info to know about how to avoid BE. Although this kid probably wouldn't care especially--he travels with whatever fits in his backpack, and he doesn't especially care where he sits.

I agree with using skymiles. Do you have a co-branded Amex Delta credit card that you're using pay with miles? If so, definitely because then you can ensure he's not flying basic economy AND getting miles (if he has a skymiles membership). Remember, even if YOU pay with YOUR miles HIS account is credited (this is why DD has had a skymiles number since birth, literally). Someday I'm sure he'll return the favor

He definitely has a Delta skymiles number (whether I can find it might be another story). Do you mean his account gets credited for the $95? I thought award tickets didn't earn miles, but maybe points+miles flights earn something?

 

[tink1970]

He definitely has a Delta skymiles number (whether I can find it might be another story). Do you mean his account gets credited for the $95? I thought award tickets didn't earn miles, but maybe points+miles flights earn something?

No, sorry, I was referring not to Miles+ Cash but using pay with miles which you can do if you have a co-branded american express delta card (it will show up at check out). I do this all the time in lieu of Miles + Cash because I can still earn MQMs and skymiles with this method. Redemption value is only $0.01 (ie, 10,000 miles knocks off $100) but it's worth it to me to earn MQMs and miles. Since we fly Delta primarily, I have more skymiles cards than I need so it's an easy way to knock down the price of a ticket yet still earn benefits.

On the bright side, he's coming home for Thanksgiving

 

[babyready]

So my husband applied for the Southwest Plus and Premier. He was instantly approved for the Plus but got a 30 day message for the Premier. I am quite sure it is because he has a CSP and CF, so lots of credit with Chase. I told him to call and talk to them about reallocating. They told him there is nothing to do until he hears back. But I think he just called the number on his card. He needs to talk to recon, right?

Mine have always gone right through so I have never had to go through this process. But I know lots of folks have. Any tips?

 

[marsh0013]

So my husband applied for the Southwest Plus and Premier. He was instantly approved for the Plus but got a 30 day message for the Premier. I am quite sure it is because he has a CSP and CF, so lots of credit with Chase. I told him to call and talk to them about reallocating. They told him there is nothing to do until he hears back. But I think he just called the number on his card. He needs to talk to recon, right?

Mine have always gone right through so I have never had to go through this process. But I know lots of folks have. Any tips?

Same exact thing happened to me. I got CSR and CSP in early August. Just applied late last week for both southwest plus and premier. Instant approval for plus, 30 day message for premier. I waited a couple of days nothing showed up in my chase account for premier so I called the automated number and got 7-10 day message. Clicked to speak with a rep. That rep told me I was denied. So then I called the recon number. I was on with them for a very long time, on hold, answering questions, on hold again.

In the end, I was able to move credit from one of my other chase cards (I have a bunch other than the sapphires). I'll be getting the companion pass in January.

I've been out of the credit card game for a long time since we just bought a house in July, and had been prepping for that by applying for nothing for years. So going for this many so fast I'm sure had something to do with it. But it all worked out. My husband will be getting the next batch after we've finished off the spend on these southwest cards.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Well... I spent a bit of time yesterday and found a Hyatt near the airport that had a park/sleep/fly option. I transferred 8,000 points to my Hyatt account and made a reservation. I called the hotel this morning and confirmed that this is actually a park/sleep/fly reservation. For me this ended up being a good use of points. This reservation allows 7 days of parking. I'm not sure if a points+cash would work for this but I might check that out next.

8,000 UR points = $80 USD. I've spent more than that on a week of airport parking and certainly didn't get a room thrown in!

 

[Albort]

The only relevant DPs I've seen recently is Simon Malls Visa gift cards no longer count towards minimum spend for a signup bonus. CardCash should be fine. I met my last Amex MSR with Raise mixed in with organic spend.

@elgerber to add to this, any stores that send level3 data to amex could potentially be disqualied . i know staples is one... i forgot where the list is.
A way to check this is to ask "Chat" on how much is left on your minimum spendings. If your numbers dont add up with them, you may need to spend more elsewhere.

 

[mejo]

So my husband applied for the Southwest Plus and Premier. He was instantly approved for the Plus but got a 30 day message for the Premier. I am quite sure it is because he has a CSP and CF, so lots of credit with Chase. I told him to call and talk to them about reallocating. They told him there is nothing to do until he hears back. But I think he just called the number on his card. He needs to talk to recon, right?

Mine have always gone right through so I have never had to go through this process. But I know lots of folks have. Any tips?

The same thing happened to me , I called and they opened my application and approved me right away, I did call the recon number though

 

[katie111]

What is the recon number for Southwest? I applied for both yesterday & got the 30 day message on both. This just happened to me a few months ago on a Barclaycard and they just had to verify my income source (I'm a SAHM so only income I have is DH's salary) and it was cleared up in about a minute. Hoping this is the same case here.

Should i call and say I applied for both or just deal with each card on a separate call?

 

[platamama]

Heads up Sapphire card (all forms) holders! Extra 1UR up to 1500 bonus UR points for using digital wallet payments from 10/4 - 11/4. I think it might be possible to get it for both CSP and CSR if you have both. Either designate one card per form of digital wallet, or spend $1500 on one card and then update your wallet to the next card.

https://www.chase.com/digital/digit...let?jp_cmp=cc/103017/ema/EM07850/Body_Image_1

 

[eeyoresmom]

Heads up Sapphire card (all forms) holders! Extra 1UR up to 1500 bonus UR points for using digital wallet payments from 10/4 - 11/4. I think it might be possible to get it for both CSP and CSR if you have both. Either designate one card per form of digital wallet, or spend $1500 on one card and then update your wallet to the next card.

https://www.chase.com/digital/digit...let?jp_cmp=cc/103017/ema/EM07850/Body_Image_1

I tried researching which stores currently accept Android pay and did not come up with much at all. Not worth downloading my cc info one more place.

 

[speedyfishy]

Applied for the CIP and got the 30 day message. I’m still in school so I put business revenue as $5. I was going to say I was planning on starting up my business in May when I graduate, but this may have been a bad idea.