I love credit cards so much!

[calypso726]

I have no experience buying gift cards for extra points, so I have a question. When my CIP comes, I should buy gift cards for my upcoming Disney trip? I need to buy two parkhoppers, so that would be almost $1000, which at 5x points from Staples would give me 5k points, from what I understand.

Thanks!

Really? I thought CIP gave 5x at office supply stores. So, the gift card wouldn't help me then?

CIP is the Chase Ink Preferred which does not earn the 5x. However the Chase Ink Plus (Ink+) does earn the 5x. This may be where the confusion lies. The Chase Ink Plus is no longer available but some of us, like me, still have one. The currently closest equivalent with Chase for 5x at Office Supply stores is the Chase Ink Cash. Hope this helps

 

[mefordis]

I had no problem connecting my tickets from UT to my Disney app. I bought the e-ticket and one I received it I added the reservation# in the ticket to my Disney app and it linked no problem and I was able to book my fast passes.

Thanks! You just link the ticket number to the Magic Band, I'm guessing.

 

[MrPTato]

I have a question for my much more math inclined friends.
We have 4 AP to purchase before next May.
My thoughts: 10 day PH from UT $505. Save $71
Pay with CSR for 3x travel for 1515 UR
1515 UR = $21
Bridge these tickets to AP with discounted gift cards.
Am I missing anything?

Bridging didn't work for us at the beginning of the year because Disney will know how much you purchased the tickets for from UT. The price difference will be the price difference from the current AP price less the price you paid for your UT ticket. Assuming that is what you meant by bridge in this case.

 

[miztressuz]

I've started meddling in the rewards game, but have a quick question. I signed my DH up for the CSP card about a month ago, if I sign up as an authorized user to get the bonus, can I still sign up for the card myself in a year or two and get a whole other sign up bonus or will I not count as a new user? Thanks!

You would count as a new user, being an authorized user doesn't stop you from getting the card yourself. In fact, you could sign up for the card yourself the next day and get the sign up bonus.

The only "issue" with being an AU on his card is that it will report to your credit report and will therefore count when Chase calculates your 5/24 number. (if you didn't know, Chase has a rule about how many cards opened in the last 24 months to be eligible for a card. Need to have less than 5 new cards in the last 24 months.) If you think that's a concern, do you have a kid you can make the AU to get the bonus instead? Or there's other tricksy ways to do it.

Edit: and I shouldn't post from the slow computer! I'm now superfluous with the million other answers that came in from quick thinking folks while I was typing

 

[mefordis]

Others can probably chime in on how to link tickets purchased on Undercover Tourist to MDE. It should not be difficult.

As for using Chase Freedom at Walgreens to buy Disney Gift Cards, it’s not a mutually exclusive idea. You can still use Disney Gift Cards for other out of pocket costs.

Do a rough comparison.

- If you buy Disney Gift Cards at Walgreens using Chase Freedom, you earn 5x UR; but you’ll have to spend those Disney Gift Cards directly with Disney to buy Parkhoppers at face value.

- If you buy discounted Parkhoppers from Undercover Tourist using CIP, you’ll earn 3x UR; but those Parkhoppers are already discounted some percentage off so that’s an upfront savings vs. getting an extra 2x UR points on the purchase.

If you buy Parkhoppers directly from Disney, it codes as Entertainment/Theme Parks, which will not trigger the 3x UR Travel category.

However, if you were staying onsite at a Disney resort property, and you bought the Parkhoppers at WDW and charged it to your room, then your room and all room charges would code as “Travel” if you pay for it with the CIP.

Wow, thanks so much for the explanation. You are so patient - you would make a great math teacher! I think for my personal goals I should go with the Walgreens gift card iidea at 5x URs. My goal is to accumulate as many URs as possible within the next year and I think the URs will benefit me more than the few dollars in savings for discounted tickets.

I am staying at the Dolphin and did not buy a package because I booked through Starwood.

 

[Angrose]

At first I rather dismissed that thread started on the DL board about how much Mondays suck but it is turning out to be extremely accurate!

I did too. I was like "no, Mondays can't be THAT bad." Um, yes, they really are that bad!

 

[Lain]

I think for my personal goals I should go with the Walgreens gift card iidea at 5x URs. My goal is to accumulate as many URs as possible within the next year and I think the URs will benefit me more than the few dollars in savings for discounted tickets.

Overall depends on what tickets you want. What is their price on UCT vs Disney? Then decide is 5x UR worth more than 3x UR plus the cash discount? I think CIP plus UCT will be best.

My example: 7 day hoppers for 2 adults
$1043.70 from Disney, $959.78 from UCT ($83.92 less)

If I bought GCs from Walgreens with my Freedom to pay, I'd earn 5218.5 URs worth $78.28 ($1043.70*5*.015cpp)
If I bought from UCT with CIP, I'd earn 2879 URs worth $43.19, plus save $83.92

I would have gone with CIP in this case.

ETA: Have had no trouble linking UCT tickets to MDE

Like I said, it’s not mutually exclusive. I’d leverage the CIP to get the best deal from its category bonuses. And I’d also leverage the CF to take advantage of the category bonuses there.

Using @amalone1013 ‘s example above, a Park Hopper from UT will save you 8% off from buying from Disney directly. You’ll earn 3x UR on top of that (which is still very good). Your “savings” factoring in cash savings and points is in the range of 11-12.5%. And because you’re working on MSR for the CIP, the bonus you’re going to get back for that spend when you meet MSR is going to be much more.

You’re not going to get a better deal by buying Disney Gift Cards at Walgreens to earn 5x UR then buying Park Hoppers directly from Disney at no discount. That’s maybe a “savings” in points of about 7.5%.

If you’re going to be dining or buying souvenirs at Disney, buy Disney Gift Cards at Walgreens using your Chase Freedom, and use the gift card at shops and restaurants. But please consider buying your tickets with the CIP from UT.

You need to be very careful not to get tricked into spending more money for more points.

 

[palhockeymomof2]

Thanks! You just link the ticket number to the Magic Band, I'm guessing.

I’ve linked tickets through the MDE app...you click on my tickets...then the + sign in the top right corner..then link the ticket to each person

 

[Angrose]

You guys are giving me Hamilton envy—hopefully we’ll see it next summer in either London or Chicago.

I highly recommend seeing it in London if you can. I just saw it there last month. I bought our tickets last December the day they were released. THREE amazing orchestra seats cost us only $360 total! Get on the mailing list and follow them on facebook so you're notified when they release tickets. It's soooo worth it!!!

 

[disneedee]

airline experts i need some help understanding my southwest flight. i booked a flight using my points and am of course watching to see if it goes down. i noticed that from pdx to lax there are 2 flights leaving at the same time, with the SAME flight #. one makes a stop and one doesn't.
i thought flight numbers were individual to that plane/flight path? can someone explain this to me?

 

[havaneselover]

I highly recommend seeing it in London if you can. I just saw it there last month. I bought our tickets last December the day they were released. THREE amazing orchestra seats cost us only $360 total! Get on the mailing list and follow them on facebook so you're notified when they release tickets. It's soooo worth it!!!

Thank you! That's a steal.

I'm torn about vacation planning for next summer--sitting on 190,000 UR points and 280,000 Marriott points but I'm not sure if I want to do London/Paris next year or wait another year. I have 190,000 UR points and 280,000 Marriott points so I'm in decent shape but these once in a lifetime trips with my teens (before they head off to college) are still so expensive.

 

[trenty]

@Lain So I waited the 2 (plus) weeks MPX told me too and just tried it again. Purchased a $10 Starbucks card to test it. It worked. Hopefully it will continue to work as I will be purchasing my DS's college textbooks from B&N soon. Not to mention other back to school shopping for him, other DS and DD.
Fingers crossed.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Did you pretend to be your mom?

Well, I applied but she actually used the card and made me AU. Crap, that reminds me to check my report for that AU.
ETA. To cancel, yes I was my mom. They didn’t actually ask me any identifying info

 

[wendow]

Have you tried using in store at BB with SB 500 offer?

I haven't. BB is not an easy store for me to get in and out of so I rarely go there. Since I've had so many issues with this card, the last thing I want to do is go there and not be able to use the card.

Update...I called the number on the back of the card...told the guy the whole long story of the PITBehind this card has been. He went through the process and registered it with my name and address. Said it's good to use online now. Tried to use on Sam's and 'declined' again

 

[StephPlum]

Good news. DH got approved for CIC. This is the card I really needed for him. No AF, 5x at office stores 2x at gas stations. If I can get him to always think of gift cards first, he can grab for Home Depot and lowes when he is at the office store. Why kid myself I have a CIC too so I will probably need to do it for him. I'll close his CIP next year at AF time.

I received my Barclays Biz letter in the mail. They need more info. I wish they were more like Amex and call and leave a message. I was able to do those over the phone. Now I have to call to see what they need.

Charged my morning iced tea on DH Barclays Biz. Should be 50k miles!! I'll look at Barclays personal next. Anyone know how long to wait between biz and personal apps?

Sorry it is too hard to quote when at work. My iPad doesn't have an insert quote button and I haven't figured it out. If I use my work computer it logs me out if I change pages so I need to log in every time I click next page. Maybe that is their way to tell me not to look at disboards at work. Anyway saw this on someone else's post. Citi Biz AA card for both me and DH they raised the CL from 7k at approval to 20k. That will get lowered.

 

[Angrose]

Thank you! That's a steal.

I'm torn about vacation planning for next summer--sitting on 190,000 UR points and 280,000 Marriott points but I'm not sure if I want to do London/Paris next year or wait another year. I have 190,000 UR points and 280,000 Marriott points so I'm in decent shape but these once in a lifetime trips with my teens (before they head off to college) are still so expensive.

That's a tough call. You have a nice stash of points, but those are two extremely expensive cities! You can definitely get your flights covered with the UR points, but they probably would not be first/business class seats. This summer we flew Virgin premium economy into London and AA economy out of Madrid and the fuel charges weren't too bad. I'd look into picking up AA cards since they are fairly easy to get.

 

[wendow]

I did too. I was like "no, Mondays can't be THAT bad." Um, yes, they really are that bad!

I read that chatter a lot before our trip, and purposely planned to not be there on a Monday. Our park days were Wed-Sat. I was surprised by how dead Friday was. Here, it doesn't matter what you do, from Costco to the zoo, Fridays are awful. Worse than weekends. Work schedules like 4-10's and 9/80 are really popular here, and Friday is the day these companies encourage everyone to take off. My dh works a 9/80 so he is off every other Friday...as is like every other man I know.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

So how long do we think I need to wait to app for the SW deluxe/plus since I cancelled the premier yesterday?

 

[Ava]

Oh yuck. Why do hotels even buy those beds?! I ask myself that soooo frequently.

They're [double beds] very common outside of the continental US. A lot of hotels in Europe have double beds also, or sometimes even 2 twins. It's because rooms themselves are small.

This sounds like an awesome vacation and for Free!

Thanks, we're excited! I still have to pay for food & activities. And possibly taxis, if we decide not to rent a car. Rental car I could get with URs, so that'd be free too.

I think SPG Lux is next. Still trying to decide on going for it on 8/23 or waiting until 10/14 when it's been 24 months since my last Marriott bonus. Is there still uncertainty about the 8/23 - 25 period (meaning if you wouldn't qualify on 8/26 because of the rules but are approved before 8/26, will you get the bonus)?

Yes, there’s still uncertainty on r/churning.

I’m going to go for the SPG Lux anyway.

Amex reps have told people applying for the SPG Biz that as long as you apply before 8/26, they’re eligible for the current bonus.

Others aren’t so sure and think Marriott is calling the shots. Particularly if whether you qualify for the welcome bonus (based on past bonuses you’ve received from Marriott) is checked against your Marriott account that you received another bonus in the past 24 months.

I'm curious about this as well. I've gotten a bonus on the Marriott Biz within the last 24 months, so under the new rules I'm ineligible for the bonus on SPG Lux. I may have DW apply for it, but not until after she gets CIP (and possibly CIC and/or CIU, depending on how far we think we can push Chase business cards for her). She's 4/24 right now and I've been saving her last slot for me to refer her to CIP. I just SM'd Chase and asked to lower the limits on some of her personal cards before she applies, based on my experience of being denied the Marriott Premier Plus because of the amount of credit already extended to me. Chase gave her crazy high limits on her CSP and CSR, probably because she didn't have any other cards with them, but since they won't move credit from a personal to a business line I don't want her to get denied the CIP and have no recourse.

Busy morning so far. Took DS to school, first day of 4th grade. Not sure how that happened so fast.
...
Waiting for DHs PNC debit card/info to come, so I can set that up and get going on bank bonus.

Aw, my oldest is starting 4th grade this year too! And my baby is starting kindergarten. They don't go back until after Labor Day though. I'm also not sure how this happened so fast.

On the PNC account, make sure none of the answers you use for the security questions can be considered "slang" words. I was having trouble setting mine up, it kept bumping me back to the screen to set up security questions even trying several different browsers, so I finally called. The woman said she's had this happen to customers before, they have a filter that blocks "slang" words and to try a different question/answer. I did that, then it worked.

Bridging didn't work for us at the beginning of the year because Disney will know how much you purchased the tickets for from UT. The price difference will be the price difference from the current AP price less the price you paid for your UT ticket. Assuming that is what you meant by bridge in this case.

Does the trick to use the ticket first before upgrading no longer work? I've never done it myself, but the recommendation on this board used to be to use a discounted ticket once before going to upgrade it to an AP. That would lock in the value of your ticket at whatever the current gate price is, so you'd only pay the difference between the gate price and the AP, not between what you actually paid and the AP. If this no longer works, sorry for the outdated information.

 

[Angrose]

I read that chatter a lot before our trip, and purposely planned to not be there on a Monday. Our park days were Wed-Sat. I was surprised by how dead Friday was. Here, it doesn't matter what you do, from Costco to the zoo, Fridays are awful. Worse than weekends. Work schedules like 4-10's and 9/80 are really popular here, and Friday is the day these companies encourage everyone to take off. My dh works a 9/80 so he is off every other Friday...as is like every other man I know.

You did such a great job planning your trip, even with the hotel ups and downs. In hindsight I should have planned Thu-Sun as park days to avoid the Monday. Live and learn! I think I just read something about a Colorado school district going to a 4-day week, but having Mondays off, not Fridays. Boy, that's really going to mess with parent work schedules!