I love credit cards so much! v2.0 (see first page for add'l details)

[nickle831]

I love that we completely just did the same thing here LOL!

lol opps got it. I fixed it. Thanks

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

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[WVMomof3]

Is that 3-4 month time frame recommended if you're doing business as well as personal cards?

I got my last business towards the end of Feb. But my last personal goes back to Aug 2017. Looking to get another personal very soon.

I would say yes, but if you haven't hit them hard recently, you could get probably get closer. DH got his SW personal and SW biz about 2 months apart, but I am now trying to wait patiently 3 months from last to get his CIP. I think I would wait at least 2 months, but some here might say you are OK with 1 month.

 

[DrFacilier]

Just back from another great WDW trip and while we have one more planned just before our AP expires in August, my wife is ready to hit some other (non-Disney) destinations in 2020. She wants us to go somewhere tropical and has mentioned Aruba. I would love some insight from you experienced travel pros. Here's some more information.

-Travel dates are 4/13-4/18 or possibly 4/13-4/19
-Ideally we would like to fly Southwest from PVD but could do BOS (hopefully we will still have 2 CPs in 2020)
-We are taking DD9 and DD10 so would love a place with a great kids club/ program
-All-Inclusive would be nice but not necessary
-I'd love to book using URs

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

 

[mom2elal]

I know @Lain gave an awesome itinerary (that I saved to my trip document!), but just wanted to say that we love Crater Lake. It is so beautiful! We were there in July of 2017 and they still had a tiny bit of snow in a few places. It took us about 7 hours to drive from Cannon Beach to Crater Lake, but it was a nice drive down the coast.

We're planning to take our trailer to Crater Lake for Labor Day. I went there about 25 years ago on a college road trip and thought it was amazing, so I'm excited to take dh and the kids!

 

[Haley R]

Is there a reason we shouldn't use the computer? We're going to be making our first-ever FP+ reservations soon.

Dh and I normally do it on our computers. I like the format better and my app on my iPhone is slower than molasses. But we normally have our phones ready just in case. Before you do I on the computer I would clear all cache and history

 

[Lain]

It's been weeks but I finally have a useful Chase offer---Staples, 10% up to $6 back

Stack with the no fee $200 MCGCs on sale this week!

 

[Haley R]

Even funnier is they seem to have the same backpack on the PBTeen site at the full price of $64.50.

Lol that seems strange

 

[mom2elal]

Thank you so much! I'm saving this for future reference. I was hoping there was a "free" place to stay, but I'll take an amazing place instead.

We stayed at a Best Western in Fort Bragg recently. It might be on the UR portal.

 

[Haley R]

I'm trying to remember... you just booked points+cash with what you had at the time and then have been chatting occasionally and applying more points, right?

I have an upgrade question. You get the whole $300 credit even if you're upgrading midyear, right? and a prorated AF? Right now my next AF isn't due until August.

Yeah we booked the rate they give you with points and I’ve been going on their chat whenever we have a decent amount of points to add. We’ve been staying at Hiltons exclusively to gain extra points. Our 6 night stay is almost completely covered by points now. When we originally booked the room was 80k/night but then one day I noticed it went all the way down to 55k/night so I cancelled, waited for the points to go back in our account, and rebooked

 

[amalone1013]

AA Vacations has this whole site dedicated to Disney:
https://www.aavacations.com/specials/dis1606-disney-resorts.asp

I’m hopeful that this is a temporary glitch but understand why some may be slightly panicking after what happened with URs.

Me too, I was going to apply for AA cards today...

 

[Judique]

Yes, I was in a hurry and typed the wrong card name. I usually look them up each time because I get them confused so often!

I don't think there is anybody here that has kept this mess straight 100% of the time. I got to checkout a couple of days ago somewhere and was looking for the right 'card'. Nowhere to be seen! It was sitting in my cupholder when I got back to the car because I had just used it for gas.

 

[mom2elal]

Dh and I normally do it on our computers. I like the format better and my app on my iPhone is slower than molasses. But we normally have our phones ready just in case. Before you do I on the computer I would clear all cache and history

Why clear the cache and history? Does that make it faster?

 

[Tikitoi]

I would say yes, but if you haven't hit them hard recently, you could get probably get closer. DH got his SW personal and SW biz about 2 months apart, but I am now trying to wait patiently 3 months from last to get his CIP. I think I would wait at least 2 months, but some here might say you are OK with 1 month.

Thanks. Will definitely wait at least two months. Esp that I have about a thousand spend still on the CIP.

 

[darnheather]

I'd start with math. Let's say you want to earn enough Virgin Atlantic miles to book two ANA award flights in business class. Depending on where you are flying from in the US you'd need 95k per person for the flights. So that is 190,000 miles. Chase Ultimate Rewards points can transfer to Virgin 1:1. The CIP card has a 80k bonus for $5,000 spend and the CSP has a 60k bonus for $4,000 spend. If you each got these 2 cards you would have 298,000 UR points for spending $18,000 over time that you were going to spend anyhow. The UR points are actually enough to cover the seats for first class, not just business.

They are worth $3,726 in the UR travel portal if for some reason you chose to redeem them for travel purchases instead of transferring to an airline to book the flights.

If you chose to redeem them for a statement credit at the lowest value of 1 cent pp then those points would get you $2,980.

A business class ticket on ANA is about $8,400 per person from JFK to HKG. First class is $19,400 per person.

Now lets take the same $18,000 in spending at 5% cash back and you get $900. $900 can't get you an economy ticket much less business or first class. You can't buy travel related purchases for the same amount as you could with the points you could have earned. Heck, you actually just lost over $2,000 that you could have taken as a statement credit, the lowest value on the points, by not making the MSR on these 4 cards and choosing to get 5% cash back instead.

If math does not work then I would suggest health concerns. Sitting upright and cramped in one position for 8 - 10 hours poses the greatest risk for blood clots to form during travel. Your flight is likely to be 15 hours or more. When you are in a business or first class seat then you are able to change your position from sitting to laying flat and every other angle in between.

I hope this helps

Once you have those points do they expire? Should I do it within a year of travel or now three years out? Can you please spell out all of those things you used acronyms for or link the page that has them spelled out?

Last night I was looking for a less expensive China trip that was as inclusive as the ADbD and so far nothing comes close! And I don't just mean the parks and five star hotels.

 

[Judique]

Once you have those points do they expire? Should I do it within a year of travel or now three years out? Can you please spell out all of those things you used acronyms for or link the page that has them spelled out?

Last night I was looking for a less expensive China trip that was as inclusive as the ADbD and so far nothing comes close! And I don't just mean the parks and five star hotels.

CSP - Chase Sapphire Preferred (personal card)
CIP - Chase Ink Preferred (business card)

UR - Ultimate Rewards

ANA - All Nippon Airlines

JFK and HGK - airports

Points will expire if you don't maintain a certain level of activity which can vary for different programs.
It's best to start at least 2 years out (quoting @calypso726 here).

Post # 3 of this thread has a glossary for most acronyms.

 

[amalone1013]

No response on reddit yet about SPG taking Marriott gift cards..

 

[Judique]

No response on reddit yet about SPG taking Marriott gift cards..

Why don't you call the SPG hotel you are interested in and ask them? Then you can tell us your results.

Since Marriott can't get their own legacy properties onboard with selling gift cards, (the process) my bet is no, it's not in gear yet, but you never know.

 

[PolyRob]

Why clear the cache and history? Does that make it faster?

Yes! If you don’t, you can get many errors like Stitch eating the page or Lady and the Tramp sorry for the “paws.”

I only view the WDW website in an incognito/private session since it keeps the history separate and clears it when I close the session. It works much better that way for me.

 

[georgina]

Yay! DH was approved for the CIP from my referral. (I had forgot his credit was frozen when I submitted his app) He got a letter today that he needed to unfreeze and call Chase, instant approval on the phone.