I love credit cards so much!

[disneymagicgirl]

I went to Staples and Walgreen’s today to use my RMN offers before they expire tomorrow. I walked out of Walgreen’s and got immediate notification and see it is pending on the app. But Staples, I got nothing. I did use my Freedon for W and AmEx for S. Anyone know of this is working properly?

I just got back from the exact same errands, much to my kids' dismay.
I had a pop up from the RMN app for both stores before I got back in the car.

It is almost too good to be true...this RMN thing. It is incredibly easy.

I am happy to report that the staples guy didn't ask for ID to buy a GC with a CC today, so I was able to use DH's amex. I got 2 emails from amex right away...looks like the offers stacked!!
$5/$25 + 10% back from amex AND the $10/$30 from RMN.

 

[palhockeymomof2]

PC= product change. I called when when I PCed my slate for a CFU.
You could take longer break btw cards, but you may get addicted like most of us and open more cards than you were expecting!

Agree it’s addicting...I’m very cautious with Chase since I’ve had my SW CP for years...but now that I’ve discovered what I can use URs for I have a plan layed out for my husband and I to hopefully get all the Chase UR cards

 

[mom2elal]

Feeling a bit frustrated at the moment...I have $31 in travel credit left on the BofA Premium card, which I'm going to be cancelling at the one year mark soon, so I was going to buy a SWA gc for that amount, just to see if it gets credited (not supposed to work for credit, but there have been data points of flights and other stuff that's not supposed to work working). So, when I went to complete the purchase, I got a message that the transaction could not be completed. I tried a few more times and still got that message, so I called and bought it over the phone. Then I logged onto my BofA account and see all of these transactions are pending! I called BofA and they told me that these transactions were, in fact, approved. Then called SWA and they say that I have to talk to customer relations, which is, of course, currently closed.

Anyone else experience this with SWA?

 

[GlamMistress]

The bonus on the new, upgraded Capital One Savor card is very tempting. I'm going to try to resist, but a free $500 is good stuff.

https://www.doctorofcredit.com/capi...up-bonus-and-4-dining-entertainment-category/

 

[miztressuz]

I was wondering about this process to avoid having an actual family member on the account in the event one decides to join the game. If I do add the AU with my middle name as the AU's first name to my CSP, do I use my same date of birth, or will Chase not even ask for it? Also, how long should I wait after adding my middle name AU should I remove him without forfeiting the bonus? Not sure I would need a second CF or CFU card next year.

Chase asks for DOB and address now. I used mine with an alternate name and so far so good.

I am imagining Oprah throwing CCs into an audience! Amex sounds so generous, minus the once a lifetime bonus. The possibility of only having Amex do one hardpull and then approve without it down the line is another compelling Amex feature.

I do too! Sometimes instead I see a Pez dispenser...

 

[Alexle2007]

I did both today and got notifications for both.

I just got back from the exact same errands, much to my kids' dismay.
I had a pop up from the RMN app for both stores before I got back in the car.

It is almost too good to be true...this RMN thing. It is incredibly easy.

I am happy to report that the staples guy didn't ask for ID to buy a GC with a CC today, so I was able to use DH's amex. I got 2 emails from amex right away...looks like the offers stacked!!
$5/$25 + 10% back from amex AND the $10/$30 from RMN.

Grrr...sounds like Staples may not have worked then. I definitely have it linked and used the associated card. I guess I’ll try again tomorrow before it expires.

 

[Albort]

Per DoC you won't be able to transfer UR to Korean Air Skypass starting 8/25. @Albort @calypso726 I think you both are the two this will potentially affect the most.

ouch... hopefully it becomes an MR partner and opens up there...

 

[disneybirds]

Did you have Chase email it to you? If so I suggest going in and copying the link and emailing it to yourself, Chase can take a week or more to send a link.

Thanks! I did both ways to make sure.

 

[DisneyMandC]

Just checked into our Homewood Suites near the airport for our 5:40 AM flight to Tulsa. DH is referring to our hotel as the “1980s Ramada.” It is pretty outdated in here. The lobby looked really nice and all the rooms have digital keys (worked no problem this time, @disneymagicgirl!), but the updates clearly stopped at the exterior and lobby.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Feeling a bit frustrated at the moment...I have $31 in travel credit left on the BofA Premium card, which I'm going to be cancelling at the one year mark soon, so I was going to buy a SWA gc for that amount, just to see if it gets credited (not supposed to work for credit, but there have been data points of flights and other stuff that's not supposed to work working). So, when I went to complete the purchase, I got a message that the transaction could not be completed. I tried a few more times and still got that message, so I called and bought it over the phone. Then I logged onto my BofA account and see all of these transactions are pending! I called BofA and they told me that these transactions were, in fact, approved. Then called SWA and they say that I have to talk to customer relations, which is, of course, currently closed.

Anyone else experience this with SWA?

I've had issues with SWA and gift cards - not exactly the same as what you've experienced...but it is very frustrating.

Customer Relations should be able to hash things out, but it may take a few transfers to get to a rep that can actually do something.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

I was wondering about this process to avoid having an actual family member on the account in the event one decides to join the game. If I do add the AU with my middle name as the AU's first name to my CSP, do I use my same date of birth, or will Chase not even ask for it? Also, how long should I wait after adding my middle name AU should I remove him without forfeiting the bonus? Not sure I would need a second CF or CFU card next year.

Yeah - use the same DOB if asked. Also, I wouldn't remove the AU card...just let it ride.

 

[PolyRob]

Yeah - use the same DOB if asked. Also, I wouldn't remove the AU card...just let it ride.

Thanks, sounds like a plan. Now if only the card were here...

 

[AmyAnne]

The bonus on the new, upgraded Capital One Savor card is very tempting. I'm going to try to resist, but a free $500 is good stuff.

https://www.doctorofcredit.com/capi...up-bonus-and-4-dining-entertainment-category/

This one is tempting me, too -- at least on the alternate days that I am not toying with the possibility of trying to get back under 5/24 for Chase. I can't decide if the Chase cards I might get are really better than the other cards I could more easily get. I need a 2-year SouthFayetteFan plan . . .

 

[miztressuz]

Thank you for the suggestions. Can you tell me what “PC” is and how I do it? Not sure what the 2020 trip will be. I like cruises and all-inclusives, but the kids are begging to go to SoCal to visit their aunt. So we would need airfare from Boston and a nice hotel in the Pasadena area.

I am a bit conservative by nature, so I’m wondering if there is a less aggressive approach to this plan, even if it takes longer?

Thanks again for taking the time to offer your advice.

Oh gosh, I didn't mean to come off like grab them all at once When you get the cards will all depend on the timing of your spend available to complete them and then when you plan to use them, pacing is important. Like you've said, you just recently got the CIP so that 5k will keep you busy for a bit (I hope )

PC is abbreviated for Product Change, like a downgrade. Since you can only hold one Sapphire product at a time, in order to apply for a new bonus you'll have to remove your existing one. Rather than cancel it, ask for a product change to a Freedom card. This will keep your age of accounts open and you get a 5x UR earning card to pair with your travel cards (the CIP and CSR) without having to pay an annual fee. Chase allows you to transfer UR points to any card in your household (for now), so you can earn UR on the Freedom then transfer it to the CIP or CSR to redeem it for travel or transfer to partners to get an increased value. When you do this will depend on a few factors, like are there still redemptions you need to make with it? are you counting on trip insurance or other benefits for an upcoming trip that it was used for? If so, it makes sense to hang onto it and then PC it after you're done. I believe they may still be doing prorated refunds of the annual fee (AF) so you may be able to PC it before it comes up for renewal again.

Also because of the one Sapphire rule, some people double dip the sign up bonus for the CSR and CSP at the same time. There's a loophole if you are approved for both cards on the same day, you get to hold both products and get both bonuses. That's 50k each for 100k + spend and other bonuses like adding an AU to the CSP or doing a referral from your existing card. The down side to this is you have to meet both spend requirements in the same 3 months, so 8k of spend. If you can pull it off for either you or your wife, it's pretty awesome, cuz then you could double dip the double dip Player 1 (P1) gets the double dip, then the next year P1 refers P2 to both cards and repeats; getting now both the sign up bonuses and the referral points. If you can time it right around a big spend it's a pretty nice bang for the buck. But it's not always for the faint of heart

If you can't meet that kind of spend or it's too much risk, no worries, you can each pick up just one instead. Maybe P2 gets the CSR next time and you apply for the CSP after PCing the CSR to a Freedom. There's a number of ways you can play this.

Maybe it looks like this:

8/18 P2 has the CIP [1/24, I'm assuming the AmEx you mentioned is the Delta card]
11/18 P1 gets the CIP (referred by P2) [2/24]
3/19 P2 gets the CSR (referred by P1) [2/24]
6/19 P1 gets the CSP (after changing the CSR)[3/24]
8/19 P2 tries for the CIC or CIU (right now both have sign up offers for 50k, maybe it'll still be around) the PC's the CIP to a CIC/CIU if you want to avoid the AF [2/24]

If you can do a faster spend velocity, maybe in between there you throw in some airline cards. You want to go cross country, maybe the airfare guru's can suggest award flights to get you there. Are you married to Delta? If so, maybe a few more Delta cards. There was just discussion back a few pages ( do a search for DeltaHostage, that should put you in the right place; there's lots of people and we talk a lot. keyword searches are helpful, hehe) about the benefits of their card lines. One is a companion fare on the card anniversary. If you fly Delta a lot that can be a good value. As for others, AA has two card issuers, you could get some AA miles from each card. United gives some extra availability and perks with their cards. Southwest, while not luxurious, has the companion pass. If you each get two cards from them for the right sign up bonus the kiddies can fly free immediately without waiting

Or maybe the UR covers the airfare and you pick up some hotel cards. There's a few chains like Marriott/SPG and Hilton that have 100k point offers on their cards; and there's multiple cards in the line so you can multiply that. Reasonable rooms are 35-50k per night, so if you get a couple of cards the sign up bonus can take care of a week of stay.

I think you've done very well to start and I hope this helps to get you started on replenishing the UR stash. With some research you might be able to shift some spend from your current rewards cards to a few new ones to get that bigger bang for the buck to jump start other points stashes. Now is a good time to get started on the 2020 plans, that gives you time to save up to have points in place when booking windows open next year to get the best chance at cheap awards or just availability in high demand areas. ​

 

[Haley R]

All righty, I've decided I'm going to try to get my multi-quote on today...


I was worried about Amex until someone here mentioned it's basically like Oprah and the "you get a car! you get a car! You get a car! Everybody gets cars!" episode back in the day. That's Amex with cards. I don't know why, despite everyone's assurance's I'd be fine, I needed that visual to get comfortable with apply for Amex cards. (I now have 4, oldest is 8 months- maybe I got too comfortable!)



Are you making sure you are logged into your UA account when searching? They have slightly more availability if you're a UA cardholder- VERY slightly more but still it's something.


Just wanted to say do not transfer those miles until you see the availability you want, I don't see any advantage to that since as you mentioned you can't put them back. I booked a UA award a few months ago. I found the award, transferred from Chase and the miles were immediately available at UA. I think I had to log out and log back into UA but that was it.



The Venture denial scarred me too! I was like 6/24 at the time. I'll keep an eye for other DPs on this card as well but hitting all 3 bureaus really added to the pain of that denial...


Do you have status in another program that might auto-match status to AA or something? I think you're the 2nd person we've heard of this from, I believe @calypso726 had this happen as well?


I'm not too concerned at this point. If it doesn't re-activate in a couple months then I'll believe it.


Try their link anyway to see if it works! I went over there to check mine and clicked some other's links and a good chunk of them are still working. If you get the offer concluded/not available message I'd shot them a DM and see if they can use the app to generate a new link.


I think they just ran a refresh on some of the links and also screwing up their RAF site.


ETA... I take back my popcorn, some of those comments are just so angry and dumb it's kinda depressing. I think I'd better stick to Reddit and Twitter for my popcorn dramas!

Actually nope I think I’ve only been signing in right after. I see a lot of availability for going to Japan but on the way back is super limited. Apparently people don’t want to fly there but sure want to leave lol

 

[mom2elal]

Feeling a bit frustrated at the moment...I have $31 in travel credit left on the BofA Premium card, which I'm going to be cancelling at the one year mark soon, so I was going to buy a SWA gc for that amount, just to see if it gets credited (not supposed to work for credit, but there have been data points of flights and other stuff that's not supposed to work working). So, when I went to complete the purchase, I got a message that the transaction could not be completed. I tried a few more times and still got that message, so I called and bought it over the phone. Then I logged onto my BofA account and see all of these transactions are pending! I called BofA and they told me that these transactions were, in fact, approved. Then called SWA and they say that I have to talk to customer relations, which is, of course, currently closed.

Anyone else experience this with SWA?

Maybe this is going to sort itself out. The only card that's been delivered so far is the final one that I bought over the phone.

 

[calypso726]

Do you have status in another program that might auto-match status to AA or something? I think you're the 2nd person we've heard of this from, I believe @calypso726 had this happen as well?

On another weird note, how does one become a American AA Gold Member and what does it do for you? I got a nice little folio congratulating me on becoming one, with a membership card. I haven't ever flown AA and closed both of my AA credit cards months ago, and my miles are actually 4 months away from expiring LOL, so not sure how I possibly got gold?

We did get gold status but we were also flying AA. I believe we achieved gold because we paid for a number of flights with AA gift cards, UR, MR and TYP so it looks like cash to AA and we earned the requisite butt in seat miles plus spending requirement. So far, it got me an upgrade to first when I was flying in economy (without DH) this past Christmas Eve. When I was coming back home from a work trip in Antigua we were able to use the priority lane to check in our bags even though the tickets were in coach. This saved us a huge amount of time because the line for those with economy tickets was really loooong. There was no one in the priority lane so we were able to get in and out of there. Gold status with AA means I have Ruby status with One World air alliance. Therefore, I would be able to use the priority business class check in lane for any One World alliance carrier I am flying, not just AA. AA gold gets one free checked bag, 24 hour upgrade window, complimentary auto upgrade requests on flights that are 500 miles or less and 40% elite mileage bonus.

DH decided to figure out how all this status stuff works and what exactly is and EQD and EQM and how to calculate those. While doing this he realized that our flights to Hawaii next month would earn us gold for next year too. He also discovered that we could do a Platinum challenge that would give us Platinum on AA for next year. Between the flights to/from Hawaii and the flights to DC to see Hamilton next month we'd be able to meet the criteria without doing anything extra. So, we are signed up for this AA platinum challenge now.

 

[calypso726]

Per DoC you won't be able to transfer UR to Korean Air Skypass starting 8/25. @Albort @calypso726 I think you both are the two this will potentially affect the most.

Oh man. That's not good.

ouch... hopefully it becomes an MR partner and opens up there...

My thoughts exactly. After the SPG card devaluation I've decided to use the Amex Blue business card at 2x for all non bonus category spend anyhow. So if Korean winds up an MR partner at 1:1 it won;t feel like a loss.

 

[DisneyMandC]

Update to the 1980s Ramada: it appears our shower isn’t draining at all. Not convinced Hilton is my brand, guys...

 

[kmc8826]

@PolyRob and others on the issue of AU’s for my IHG Chase card I got in April there was a point bonus for the AU. I added my oldest and then put the card away intending to use it once at some point. Before I got around to it noticed the bonus posted. So just a datapoint that the card doesn’t even need to be actually used. YMV though.

Maybe grandma or someone doesn’t care if you add her as an AU?!?