I love credit cards so much!

[Gwmw1210]

So I'm not familiar with Starbucks, hubby does not like it but sometimes it's the only option when he needs coffee so occasionally we buy there. The AmEx offer says its good for app reloads, I assume this is the gift card/balance linked to your Starbucks account? If so, does that balance expire at all? I wonder if I can create an account and just put some money on it through the reload to take advantage of the 15% offer and then we just use that when we get held hostage. Will that work? Thanks!

Someone else may have already answered but the balance does not expire.

 

[Gwmw1210]

OMGoodness!! I've been approved for the CIC!!!
I just lowered my CLs Tuesday and kept going back and forth about when I should apply. I really want this card for tickets/APs for our September trip. I have to have them by the end of this month to make FPs for the trip. I continued to stare at the calendar as if my FP date would change somehow if I stared at it a bit more. Yesterday afternoon I decided to just go for it. Got the 30 day message online, which is exactly what I was expecting so no surprise there. I only called the status line twice yesterday and it was still 30 days. I fully expected at least a few days of tortous calling and still hearing 30 days before I'd finally get an answer. Just called this morning and to my surprise it says I was approved! I'm thrilled!! Now I'm hoping the card arrives quickly.



I cannot "love" this post enought!! I really feel this is an amazing group of DISers we have here. There's so much diversity in travel goals and levels of experience yet the environment remains welcoming and friendly. Couldn't ask for more!

Congratulations on your approval!

 

[Lain]

Just loaded my Starbucks app with $50 using my SPG Biz, which had the 10% and 15% offers, and got email confirmation that I used both offers.

 

[miztressuz]

I have a full time employed position (only source of personal income) so business cards are not an option for me. The only card I received in the last two years was a Costco Visa. That's what I use now for the rewards, and for regular spending I have a Citi Double Cash Card. So until now the only rewards I have been getting significantly are cash from those two.

I do have the Southwest premier card which I only use for southwest purchases now, and a Chase Freedom that I stopped using after I got the Costco card. I am planning on closing the southwest card after I get the Sapphire, and pair the Freedom with the sapphire. Then a regular Disney Visa for disney vacations.

I do have the Amex Blue (way old that I just keep open because it's free), and the Delta Platinum obtained when I lived around Pittsburgh in the past, (live in Chicago now so mostly southwest for flying). I am thinking of closing the delta platinum soon as well.

So yes, I started thinking about this just to upgrade travel. I have never flown first class or business class, and seeing all the posts in the trip reports got me intrigued as to how people can afford to pay thousands of dollars more for them (of course I learned that savvy travelers do not). We are planning an ABD China in 2020 and hoping to fly business or first for that. At the moment all the cash rewards go to the vacations, and I learned from reading here that they would be worth more if used for paying with miles.



Yes, it started popping again just last night. Before this, it was the AU spend for 5k points. I just started thinking about doing this to transfer points for reward flights to get business/first class seats. I am not knowledgeable about the travel redemption yet as I thought transferring the points gave them more value, from what I have read people say on here. I still have to read up on all the aspects of the program.

By what you are saying, it sounds like I can get the Preferred and downgrade say to Freedom Unlimited in two years, and then get bonus points if I apply for the Reserve at that time? If so, that's great.

Ok, I get 2 offers. On my browser where I usually access Chase (so it has all manner of cookies and session data stored) I get the 50 + 5 AU offer. If I go incognito I get the 80k offer, but it requires 30k in spend and not the 20k. So it seems like they have a few offers going around, I thought maybe they replaced the 20 with 30 now .
AFAIK, if you were just interested in transferring it to travel partners (Delta, United, Southwest, Hyatt, Marriott, etc etc) then the transfer rates are the same for either card. It's if you wanted to redeem those UR for travel through their portal or TA, then you get a higher redemption rate with the Reserve (the 1.5 vs 1.25 for Preferred). So when I look at a hotel through the travel portal on my Reserve, say it wants 3300 points for that night. If I look at it through my Preferred I need 4000 and from my Freedom it wants 5000+.

So there's a few factors that weigh in on whether you'd want to book something through the portal or transfer the points to the actual rewards program. Sometimes comes down to cost and other times flexibility on which will work out better. But you can always figure out later how to change it if the Reserve would work better then. Or like you said, downgrade to the CFU and then apply for the Reserve. Just keep in mind in your figuring that it's 24 months from when you earned the bonus, with the split bonus payout I'm not sure if you're safe after the first pay out or you have to wait until all bonuses were paid. If that takes you all year to get the spend in, then potentially you're looking at being locked out for 3 years. Hopefully someone more knowledgeable than me on that aspect will chime in.

 

[miztressuz]

You could probably buy a coke LOL from the front desk.

LOL I was totally thinking that but I wondered if they'd let you buy a soda at the front desk without staying there? At Marriott they always ask for your room number and charge it there.

 

[elgerber]

LOL I was totally thinking that but I wondered if they'd let you buy a soda at the front desk without staying there? At Marriott they always ask for your room number and charge it there.

Tell them you are out on a walk, and parched LOL.

 

[ejcraft]

can I product change my Amex gold card to something and still keep my MR's or should I apply for the blue no fee first? then just close the gold, I don't want to pay the annual fee, and do i do this before or after the AF post?

 

[Ngwira]

I applied for the Hyatt CC last June when the bonus was two free nights at any Hyatt. My annual free night just posted but my annual fee won't post until July 1. I was on the fence about keeping the card but plan to do so now.

We have an upcoming stay at the Hyatt Regency MCO tomorrow night. I hold discoverist status which comes free with the credit card. I received an email earlier from the hotel thanking me for my loyalty and asking for any requests. I mentioned that we are traveling with the kids and would love a high floor so our kids could see planes landing and departing. My request was granted! Little things like this make a difference!

I also booked my free night at the Hyatt Place Dewey Beach in Delaware for a Saturday night in July. Rates are $400 plus a night so the $99 fee is so worth it.

 

[gottalovepluto]

I have a full time employed position (only source of personal income) so business cards are not an option for me. The only card I received in the last two years was a Costco Visa. That's what I use now for the rewards, and for regular spending I have a Citi Double Cash Card. So until now the only rewards I have been getting significantly are cash from those two.

I do have the Southwest premier card which I only use for southwest purchases now, and a Chase Freedom that I stopped using after I got the Costco card. I am planning on closing the southwest card after I get the Sapphire, and pair the Freedom with the sapphire. Then a regular Disney Visa for disney vacations.

I do have the Amex Blue (way old that I just keep open because it's free), and the Delta Platinum obtained when I lived around Pittsburgh in the past, (live in Chicago now so mostly southwest for flying). I am thinking of closing the delta platinum soon as well.

So yes, I started thinking about this just to upgrade travel. I have never flown first class or business class, and seeing all the posts in the trip reports got me intrigued as to how people can afford to pay thousands of dollars more for them (of course I learned that savvy travelers do not). We are planning an ABD China in 2020 and hoping to fly business or first for that. At the moment all the cash rewards go to the vacations, and I learned from reading here that they would be worth more if used for paying with miles.

Loved China! (I didn't ABD but I studied abroad in Beijing back in the day ) I had forgotten about the large spend on CSP offer (sorry!) for the extra 30k URs. My perspective on that is that it is a good option if you have lots of spend each month and nothing else to do with it, otherwise that much spend might be better maximized with another card. Freedoms do pair very nicely with Sapphires (there's a phrase that only makes sense here!). My thinking is if you need flights to China in 2020 you'll be booking them in 2019 so you won't have a chance to pick up any more URs off of Sapphires. The Sapphire rules are: 1 Sapphire card, Sapphire bonus every 24 months. (The "double dip" needs to be done carefully but it is a current workaround to the 1 sapphire rule that has resulted in most (not all) who apply being able to pick up 2 Sapphires.) I think your timeline won't allow you to grab a 2nd sapphire bonus until July 2020 at the absolute earliest so for your China trip you should look to max the URs you can get with sapphires right now. Here are your options as I see them:
CSP + 20k spend = 80,000 UR (no AF)
CSP + CSR = 100,000 UR (CSR effective fee of $150) and you have 12k spend to get other cards. Downgrade the CSR after a year to a CF

Things to consider
-Chase travel protections are only valid if you still hold that credit card, if you downgrade between booking and trip you aren't covered at trip time. Idk if you'd just use your amex plat to pay taxes and fees anyway
-Are you in 2 player mode? If so, whatever card you get refer your P2 when you can meet the MSR again and you'll bank 10k UR for the referral plus get the bonus on the card. IF you were to do a Sapphire double dip this would give you an ultimate total of 220,000 URs with an effective fee of $300 and a total $16k spend
-Nothing precludes you from doing the CSP + 20k AND CSR if you run very large volumes of spend, I separated them out assuming your ability to spend is somewhat limited but if it's not this is a great route to go
-do you understand 5/24? Count up all personal cards you open in the last 24 months, after you hit 5 you are not eligible for most Chase cards. You are 1/24 by my calculations and even double dipping sapphires would put you at 3/24. I'd review the list of cards subject to Chase's 5/24 and make sure you don't want any of the others before you hit 5/24 and are locked out. You can downgrade your sapphire/s if you're over 5/24 to CF/CFUs
-Disney Visa (no af one) currently has the best offer we've seen on it. $200 statement credit for $500 spend (and $100 Disney Rewards Dollars for referring someone). Offer only available via referral (are you on our DISchurners private reddit group? If not message @SouthFayetteFan , @Albort or @Lain to join, all are welcome and you find our support links over their for offers like this). This card is one of the few not subject to 5/24 but it will count towards it.
-You don't want to hit more than 3, maybe 4 Chase cards in one year due to Chase Shutdown risk. While we aren't exactly sure what triggers them, we endeavor to not get hit because if Chase does not reinstate your accounts you lose all your Chase cards (but they do give people a chance to redeem their URs)

 

[Calfan]

For anyone who uses their Amex Offers- $60 off $300 SPG stay showed up on my SPG card (whoo hoo!) as well as others AND both 10% and 15% off at Starbucks, up to $5. Not sure if they'll apply the 15% or 10% first or simultaneously. DD is hooked on SB so it's a win at this house

There's an Amex offer this morning for 15% back on Starbucks, up to $5 total in statement credits. Had it on my Hilton biz.

Another DP:

Got 15% off Starbucks on my SPG, SPG Biz, MB Plat, and PRG.
Also got 10% off Starbucks on my SPG Biz.
Got the $60 off $300 SPG stay on my SPG Biz, MB Plat, and PRG.

Thank you! Without these kinds of posts, I'd miss so many offers.

For starbucks, what is going to be the best way to get DH to pay since he only carries his CSR? Do they take Apple Pay that could load his amex to?

You can reload your Starbucks app with Apple Pay, but you can't use Apple Pay in stores to my knowledge.

So I'm not familiar with Starbucks, hubby does not like it but sometimes it's the only option when he needs coffee so occasionally we buy there. The AmEx offer says its good for app reloads, I assume this is the gift card/balance linked to your Starbucks account? If so, does that balance expire at all? I wonder if I can create an account and just put some money on it through the reload to take advantage of the 15% offer and then we just use that when we get held hostage. Will that work? Thanks!

For the 15% off Starbucks offer, go in store and ask to reload DH's app (be signed into DH's Starbucks app on your iPhone) or buy a gift card to load into DH's app in the amount of $33.34 (to maximize the $5 statement credit), pay with the card with the offer on it.

For the 10% deal, the amount is $50 to maximize the $5 credit.

I recall @Calfan said these Amex Offers worked when reloading her Starbucks balance in-app and paying with the card with the offer on it. But if you reload in app, you can only do so in certain denominations; in store, you can ask to reload exactly $33.34.

Took me a while to catch up on the thread this morning, but I had checked my Amex offers this morning before catching up on the thread and had the Starbucks 15% off up to $5 on all 4 of my Amex cards! Woo hoo Lain is correct that I was successful in redeeming the offer last go round with an app reload. And this offer definitely includes language that app reloads qualify. I reloaded $35 using each of my 4 Amex cards with the offer, and got 4 emails congratulating me on using my offers. I now have a ridiculous balance on my SB app, lol, but no worries since it doesn't expire. I also had the $60 off $300 SPG stay on both my SPG and Delta Amexes, so added both of those, although we are unlikely to use them given other plans this summer.

I can't remember if this has been answered, but SB does allow ApplePay to be used in the stores. My daughter's high school is across the street from a SB, and she has been using ApplePay to buy her SB (although now I have her using the app with my login).

Safeway? I don't have that option around here...I guess I'll take my chances with what Lowes or HD has (sigh)

Safeway is one of many grocery store banners under Albertsons Companies, and all of the banners sell gift cards. Where are you located?

 

[peel]

On Wednesday, I set up a transfer of SPG points from my husband's accounts to mine. The points are still in his account today. I did this once before and although it took a few days for the points to show in my account, they disappeared from his on the first day. Should I assume the transfer didn't take this time?

 

[Lain]

On Wednesday, I set up a transfer of SPG points from my husband's accounts to mine. The points are still in his account today. I did this once before and although it took a few days for the points to show in my account, they disappeared from his on the first day. Should I assume the transfer didn't take this time?

SPG>SPG transfers take like 5 days, so just give it a few more days.

 

[Ngwira]

I applied for the Hyatt CC last June when the bonus was two free nights at any Hyatt. My annual free night just posted but my annual fee won't post until July 1. I was on the fence about keeping the card but plan to do so now.

We have an upcoming stay at the Hyatt Regency MCO tomorrow night. I hold discoverist status which comes free with the credit card. I received an email earlier from the operations manager thanking me for my loyalty and asking for any requests. I mentioned that we are traveling with the kids and would love a high floor so our kids could see planes landing and departing. My request was granted! Little things like this make a difference!

I also booked my free night at the Hyatt Place Dewey Beach in Delaware for a Saturday night in July. Rates are $400 plus a night so the $99 fee is so worth it.

Wow, so the concierge just emailed me and asked for the names and ages of the kids and confirmed we are on the 10th floor. I'll let you guys know if it amounts to anything. Hyatt seems to be stepping up their game, though.

Visiting lounges is also in our plans. We have plans to hit the Centurion Lounge in Philly and the Club at MCO (PP) on this trip, as well.

 

[Judique]

Yesterday I decided to apply for the Marriott Business card. Checked here to see if some one could refer me but @Lain confirmed there are no referrals from this card.

I filled out the online form, trying to remember all the guidelines that I've read here. Got to 'business sub type' and skipped it as I didn't quite get it. Got to the end and went back and the ap went poof and I ended up with a 500 error page.

So, I went and had a cup of coffee. First business card and no real business so I had a few second thoughts as I'm waiting patiently to get under 5/24 so I can get a UR card. Checked the status line just in case, by accident the app went through. Nada, so back to square one.

Later on after dinner, I made it back onto the laptop and to the Chase site. This time, I filled it all out and submitted it.

I was approved. Happy dance!!! Just want to get as many Starriott points as possible while the getting is good!

 

[peel]

SPG>SPG transfers take like 5 days, so just give it a few more days.

Do you not see any activity for days? I thought the points came out of the sender's account right away. I'm impatient!

 

[elgerber]

Do you not see any activity for days? I thought the points came out of the sender's account right away. I'm impatient!

When I have done it, they stayed in the senders account until they showed up in mine.

 

[miztressuz]

Yesterday I decided to apply for the Marriott Business card. Checked here to see if some one could refer me but @Lain confirmed there are no referrals from this card.

I filled out the online form, trying to remember all the guidelines that I've read here. Got to 'business sub type' and skipped it as I didn't quite get it. Got to the end and went back and the ap went poof and I ended up with a 500 error page.

So, I went and had a cup of coffee. First business card and no real business so I had a few second thoughts as I'm waiting patiently to get under 5/24 so I can get a UR card. Checked the status line just in case, by accident the app went through. Nada, so back to square one.

Later on after dinner, I made it back onto the laptop and to the Chase site. This time, I filled it all out and submitted it.

I was approved. Happy dance!!! Just want to get as many Starriott points as possible while the getting is good!

Woohoo, congrats!

Now I can follow along and see how it goes since I think you might be the first since May. I'm interested to see if they kept the elite night credits for every 3k in spend like the Marriott page states (and the pre-May cards). The Chase offer now only mentioned getting Gold if you spent a good chunk of change in the year.

 

[Judique]

Woohoo, congrats!

Now I can follow along and see how it goes since I think you might be the first since May. I'm interested to see if they kept the elite night credits for every 3k in spend like the Marriott page states (and the pre-May cards). The Chase offer now only mentioned getting Gold if you spent a good chunk of change in the year.

Ok! I am in it mainly for the points and the free night as opposed to status, but if I learn anything I will post it.

 

[Ngwira]

Yesterday I decided to apply for the Marriott Business card. Checked here to see if some one could refer me but @Lain confirmed there are no referrals from this card.

I filled out the online form, trying to remember all the guidelines that I've read here. Got to 'business sub type' and skipped it as I didn't quite get it. Got to the end and went back and the ap went poof and I ended up with a 500 error page.

So, I went and had a cup of coffee. First business card and no real business so I had a few second thoughts as I'm waiting patiently to get under 5/24 so I can get a UR card. Checked the status line just in case, by accident the app went through. Nada, so back to square one.

Later on after dinner, I made it back onto the laptop and to the Chase site. This time, I filled it all out and submitted it.

I was approved. Happy dance!!! Just want to get as many Starriott points as possible while the getting is good!

Congrats!!!!

 

[miztressuz]

Ok! I am in it mainly for the points and the free night as opposed to status, but if I learn anything I will post it.

I really am brain dead today, the most important part for us is actually the 15 elite nights they would give you to make silver elite. You had received them when you got the card and then on your anniversary each year. We're looking for nights some extra nights to boost us this year. But with the new offer, that plus the elite nights from spend disappeared terms so haven't been sure what happens to new apps now.

But congrats, you also get double points at office supply stores, internet, cable and phone services purchases on the business version in addition to restaurants, airline and car charges. So can maybe rack up more points with your MSR if you've got purchases there coming up