I love credit cards so much! v3.0 (see first page for add'l details)

[amalone1013]

When I sell on eBay, buyers pay me via PayPal, which I immediately transfer to my Chase account, several times a year. No problems.

Great, how am I even going to know who you are...

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Any DP on how long to wait before cancelling an existing SW personal card and applying for a new one and being eligible for the SUB? Is it an overnight kind of thing or do you need to allow more time for Chase to see you don't have an existing card? I'm seeing conflicting reports online. Thanks!

This is a tough question - here's what I know:

• If you are cancelling and reapplying for the same card, the general advice is to wait 30 days although it seems that might be unnecessary. The worry is that they will re-open your old card.
• If you PC a card (i.e. CSP => CF) you can reapply for the same card 3-4 days later to be safe

The best way around these restrictions with Southwest is to apply for a different personal card than the one you currently held. If you hold a Plus: apply for a Premier or Priority. It seems you could do this as soon as 1 business day later but if you can wait 3-4 days that might be for the best!

 

[Haley R]

I’m gonna ramble for a second so hopefully no one shuns me lol. As most of you know, Dh and I have been trying to plan a trip to London and Scotland in 2021. We’ve gotten great help from some of you and had a good idea about flights. Last night we watched 2-3 hours of videos on YouTube of both places to see what things might interest us. After most of those videos we looked at each other and I think we could both tell neither of us were extremely enthusiastic about going.

It felt like we were forcing ourselves to make this trip happen. Most of that is because I felt like we “had” to go somewhere new. I was feeling like we needed to see more of the world. I knew Dh just wanted to go back to japan. I looked at him and seriously said,“What would you say if I just wanted to go back to Japan instead?”. He got super excited and I could tell that’s where we both really wanted to go.

I guess my point is, I love that we all travel to such different places and sometimes I need to remind myself to go places I like instead of forcing myself to go somewhere just because other people are. So our plan is now to spend 10-14 days in Tokyo and hopefully flying business with ANA next April/May. We already have more than enough points it’s just making sure we can get flights. Idk if this will help anyone else but it was a good reminder for myself.

 

[Moneypenny]

This is a tough question - here's what I know:

• If you are cancelling and reapplying for the same card, the general advice is to wait 30 days although it seems that might be unnecessary. The worry is that they will re-open your old card.
• If you PC a card (i.e. CSP => CF) you can reapply for the same card 3-4 days later to be safe

The best way around these restrictions with Southwest is to apply for a different personal card than the one you currently held. If you hold a Plus: apply for a Premier or Priority. It seems you could do this as soon as 1 business day later but if you can wait 3-4 days that might be for the best!

Thank you! I have the Priority and want to hold on to it through January so I can use the priority boarding credits on our flight in a couple of weeks. Sounds like I can cancel it afterward, wait a few days, and then apply for a Plus or Premier and get the 75,000 SUB. I'll miss having the $75 airline credit from the Priority, but I have a mailer for a "pre-screened" offer for the 100,000 MR AmEx Plat, so could try for that and get the $200 airline credit that way. Decisions, decisions.

 

[DaveL]

This is a tough question - here's what I know:

• If you are cancelling and reapplying for the same card, the general advice is to wait 30 days although it seems that might be unnecessary. The worry is that they will re-open your old card.
• If you PC a card (i.e. CSP => CF) you can reapply for the same card 3-4 days later to be safe

The best way around these restrictions with Southwest is to apply for a different personal card than the one you currently held. If you hold a Plus: apply for a Premier or Priority. It seems you could do this as soon as 1 business day later but if you can wait 3-4 days that might be for the best!

Just some random unsolicited information. I canceled both my personal SW cards back in Oct/Nov and up until two days ago both showed in my account, both were a zero balance when closed. One has since gone to "NA" and when you select it says something about they are having trouble loading the account, and the other still shows but listed as closed.

 

[Moneypenny]

Just some random unsolicited information. I canceled both my personal SW cards back in Oct/Nov and up until two days ago both showed in my account, both were a zero balance when closed. One has since gone to "NA" and when you select it says something about they are having trouble loading the account, and the other still shows but listed as closed.

Ugh. You know, thinking about this I remembered that I already did this (cancelled an existing SW personal card to get the SUB on another one before) in 2017, but that may have been before the "you can't get a bonus if you already hold a card with us" rule. I actually did it over the phone in one transaction - I told the gal what I wanted to do and she cancelled the "old" one and applied for the new one in one call. I did get the SUB on that new one, and I did see the old one in my account for a long time until I figured out how to make it not show. Hmmm.

 

[GZanta77]

I’m gonna ramble for a second so hopefully no one shuns me lol. As most of you know, Dh and I have been trying to plan a trip to London and Scotland in 2021. We’ve gotten great help from some of you and had a good idea about flights. Last night we watched 2-3 hours of videos on YouTube of both places to see what things might interest us. After most of those videos we looked at each other and I think we could both tell neither of us were extremely enthusiastic about going.

It felt like we were forcing ourselves to make this trip happen. Most of that is because I felt like we “had” to go somewhere new. I was feeling like we needed to see more of the world. I knew Dh just wanted to go back to japan. I looked at him and seriously said,“What would you say if I just wanted to go back to Japan instead?”. He got super excited and I could tell that’s where we both really wanted to go.

I guess my point is, I love that we all travel to such different places and sometimes I need to remind myself to go places I like instead of forcing myself to go somewhere just because other people are. So our plan is now to spend 10-14 days in Tokyo and hopefully flying business with ANA next April/May. We already have more than enough points it’s just making sure we can get flights. Idk if this will help anyone else but it was a good reminder for myself.

If you have Amazon Prime - there is a new series touring Japan with James May (Top Gear/The Grand Tour). It is an enjoyable watch if you can tolerate James May's particular brand of British humor.

 

[Haley R]

If you have Amazon Prime - there is a new series touring Japan with James May (Top Gear/The Grand Tour). It is an enjoyable watch if you can tolerate James May's particular brand of British humor.

We do have amazon prime so I might have to check that out! We watched videos of people taking their 1 year olds to japan and it honestly looks like so much fun. We’re planning for this trip to be super relaxing and we’re going to stay at the same Airbnb as last time in Tokyo. She said she has a baby bed, high chair, and toys for us to use. For the most part we’ll be doing parks and just walking around since we liked that area she lived in. I’m sure we’ll do a couple days at disney too

 

[mmmears]

Thanks for all the replies about if I should get up at 4 am to book FP. I counted 5 yays and 2 nays. So I guess I'm getting up at 4, lol.

I know it's early, but I see it as a little pain now that will save you hours later on. Speaking as a Mom who had to call at 3:59am to get her princess breakfast at the castle on past trips (before we could do it online and before lunch and dinner were options - so it was super hard to get).

If you have Amazon Prime - there is a new series touring Japan with James May (Top Gear/The Grand Tour). It is an enjoyable watch if you can tolerate James May's particular brand of British humor.

Ooh - I want to check this out, too. Japan's on our "possibilities" list for future trips. Thanks for the recommendation.

 

[mmmears]

We do have amazon prime so I might have to check that out! We watched videos of people taking their 1 year olds to japan and it honestly looks like so much fun. We’re planning for this trip to be super relaxing and we’re going to stay at the same Airbnb as last time in Tokyo. She said she has a baby bed, high chair, and toys for us to use. For the most part we’ll be doing parks and just walking around since we liked that area she lived in. I’m sure we’ll do a couple days at disney too

I'm happy you figured out something that you really want to do!

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

We do have amazon prime so I might have to check that out! We watched videos of people taking their 1 year olds to japan and it honestly looks like so much fun. We’re planning for this trip to be super relaxing and we’re going to stay at the same Airbnb as last time in Tokyo. She said she has a baby bed, high chair, and toys for us to use. For the most part we’ll be doing parks and just walking around since we liked that area she lived in. I’m sure we’ll do a couple days at disney too

I've said this before, I enjoy repeat trips because I find familiarity to be relaxing! So of course, for you, this sounds like a great plan to me! While a baby can be unpredictable, by going to the same Airbnb in a place you've been before, you've really created some predictability to your trip! And I love that idea!

 

[wanderlust7]

I’m gonna ramble for a second so hopefully no one shuns me lol. As most of you know, Dh and I have been trying to plan a trip to London and Scotland in 2021. We’ve gotten great help from some of you and had a good idea about flights. Last night we watched 2-3 hours of videos on YouTube of both places to see what things might interest us. After most of those videos we looked at each other and I think we could both tell neither of us were extremely enthusiastic about going.

It felt like we were forcing ourselves to make this trip happen. Most of that is because I felt like we “had” to go somewhere new. I was feeling like we needed to see more of the world. I knew Dh just wanted to go back to japan. I looked at him and seriously said,“What would you say if I just wanted to go back to Japan instead?”. He got super excited and I could tell that’s where we both really wanted to go.

I guess my point is, I love that we all travel to such different places and sometimes I need to remind myself to go places I like instead of forcing myself to go somewhere just because other people are. So our plan is now to spend 10-14 days in Tokyo and hopefully flying business with ANA next April/May. We already have more than enough points it’s just making sure we can get flights. Idk if this will help anyone else but it was a good reminder for myself.

Totally! Do what makes YOU happy!

Not quite the same, but I kind of understand the feeling. We have a timeshare (got suckered into one years ago), so I'm always looking for places to use it up. Our Iceland/Scotland trip started because I caught an exchange to HGVC Craigendarroch. But as I planned, it was the part of the trip I was least excited about, even though reviews are great. The exchange fee is nonrefundable, so I didn't want to cancel. It turned out to be my least favorite part of the trip. We had a nice time and it was relaxing, but I felt like I could be doing *more* with my vacation time (like Isle of Skye). This summer we're going to central Oregon on exchange after our Alaska cruise, even though I really wanted coastal. If I have the same feelings after, maybe I'll have learned my lesson, lol.

 

[ski_mom]

Some ramblings and questions...

My extended family is wanting to plan a trip for this summer to include my family, my sister's family and my mom. We did this 3 years ago and flew to Hawaii - did two nights at waikiki beach, took NCL's 7 night cruise around the islands and then spend 5 nights at Aulini. It was a great trip and we thought it would be the only time we did it because of kids getting older, etc.

Anyway, my mom is wanting to try it again. The biggest issue is my girls - one graduated from college last May. She is still looking for "her job", so hopefully will be working somewhere different by July when we would most likely travel. Therefore, her vacation time is questionable. DD2 will graduate this May, so she also is very up in the air about her summer schedule possibilities.

To make it more complicated, everyone is looking into an Alaskan cruise this time. We Love cruises, but they are probably the most difficult type of vacation to change after you've booked (at least as far as I know). So, here in lies my questions:

1. Is there any type of trip insurance that could be purchased that would cover one of both of my DD's not being able to go after rooms are booked? I looked at the CSR insurance because we could pay with points/ charge the rest on that card, but it doesn't seem like it would apply.

2. Wondering what other trips anyone has taken that worked well for multiple generations.

My mom will be 76 when we travel and is in pretty good health, but not an overly active person, so can't walk long distances without tiring, etc. That's part of the reason we think cruising would be good because she's familiar with them and it's easy to do things at varying paces.

My sister has two girls who will be the youngest at 11 and 15 at the time of the trip, so they are old enough that they don't need to be entertained the entire time, but still want to have something fun to do sometimes.

If anyone has any advice / knowledge about this, I would love any input!

 

[speedyfishy]

I’m gonna ramble for a second so hopefully no one shuns me lol. As most of you know, Dh and I have been trying to plan a trip to London and Scotland in 2021. We’ve gotten great help from some of you and had a good idea about flights. Last night we watched 2-3 hours of videos on YouTube of both places to see what things might interest us. After most of those videos we looked at each other and I think we could both tell neither of us were extremely enthusiastic about going.

It felt like we were forcing ourselves to make this trip happen. Most of that is because I felt like we “had” to go somewhere new. I was feeling like we needed to see more of the world. I knew Dh just wanted to go back to japan. I looked at him and seriously said,“What would you say if I just wanted to go back to Japan instead?”. He got super excited and I could tell that’s where we both really wanted to go.

I guess my point is, I love that we all travel to such different places and sometimes I need to remind myself to go places I like instead of forcing myself to go somewhere just because other people are. So our plan is now to spend 10-14 days in Tokyo and hopefully flying business with ANA next April/May. We already have more than enough points it’s just making sure we can get flights. Idk if this will help anyone else but it was a good reminder for myself.

are you going back to Tokyo Disneyland? I’m really excited for those vlogs!

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Some ramblings and questions...

My extended family is wanting to plan a trip for this summer to include my family, my sister's family and my mom. We did this 3 years ago and flew to Hawaii - did two nights at waikiki beach, took NCL's 7 night cruise around the islands and then spend 5 nights at Aulini. It was a great trip and we thought it would be the only time we did it because of kids getting older, etc.

Anyway, my mom is wanting to try it again. The biggest issue is my girls - one graduated from college last May. She is still looking for "her job", so hopefully will be working somewhere different by July when we would most likely travel. Therefore, her vacation time is questionable. DD2 will graduate this May, so she also is very up in the air about her summer schedule possibilities.

To make it more complicated, everyone is looking into an Alaskan cruise this time. We Love cruises, but they are probably the most difficult type of vacation to change after you've booked (at least as far as I know). So, here in lies my questions:

1. Is there any type of trip insurance that could be purchased that would cover one of both of my DD's not being able to go after rooms are booked? I looked at the CSR insurance because we could pay with points/ charge the rest on that card, but it doesn't seem like it would apply.

2. Wondering what other trips anyone has taken that worked well for multiple generations.

My mom will be 76 when we travel and is in pretty good health, but not an overly active person, so can't walk long distances without tiring, etc. That's part of the reason we think cruising would be good because she's familiar with them and it's easy to do things at varying paces.

My sister has two girls who will be the youngest at 11 and 15 at the time of the trip, so they are old enough that they don't need to be entertained the entire time, but still want to have something fun to do sometimes.

If anyone has any advice / knowledge about this, I would love any input!

My first thought on a cruise is the lack of flexibility (i.e. you can't really jump on and off the ship). I've gone on family trips that covered multiple generations (i.e. beach, theme park, etc.) and those worked well because nobody had to be there the whole time to make it work. I remember a trip where a bunch of us were there Sat-Sat but then my one sister-in-law and fiance came in the middle and my brother-in-law left early, and some others showed up late, but for a few days in the middle of the week we were all together! Just food for thought... in case your daughters can perhaps swing 3-4 days but not a full week off...

 

[wanderlust7]

Some ramblings and questions...

My extended family is wanting to plan a trip for this summer to include my family, my sister's family and my mom. We did this 3 years ago and flew to Hawaii - did two nights at waikiki beach, took NCL's 7 night cruise around the islands and then spend 5 nights at Aulini. It was a great trip and we thought it would be the only time we did it because of kids getting older, etc.

Anyway, my mom is wanting to try it again. The biggest issue is my girls - one graduated from college last May. She is still looking for "her job", so hopefully will be working somewhere different by July when we would most likely travel. Therefore, her vacation time is questionable. DD2 will graduate this May, so she also is very up in the air about her summer schedule possibilities.

To make it more complicated, everyone is looking into an Alaskan cruise this time. We Love cruises, but they are probably the most difficult type of vacation to change after you've booked (at least as far as I know). So, here in lies my questions:

1. Is there any type of trip insurance that could be purchased that would cover one of both of my DD's not being able to go after rooms are booked? I looked at the CSR insurance because we could pay with points/ charge the rest on that card, but it doesn't seem like it would apply.

2. Wondering what other trips anyone has taken that worked well for multiple generations.

My mom will be 76 when we travel and is in pretty good health, but not an overly active person, so can't walk long distances without tiring, etc. That's part of the reason we think cruising would be good because she's familiar with them and it's easy to do things at varying paces.

My sister has two girls who will be the youngest at 11 and 15 at the time of the trip, so they are old enough that they don't need to be entertained the entire time, but still want to have something fun to do sometimes.

If anyone has any advice / knowledge about this, I would love any input!

How last minute would you need to cancel? There's cancel for any reason insurance, but it would only cover 50-75% (depending on the coverage). You would need to buy it soon after booking the cruise.

Unless you get a nonrefundable deposit rate, most can be canceled for a full refund 4 months before sailing. Are you looking at NCL again? Here's their refund schedule (for non-suites, 7 days or more):

119 - 91 days	25%*
90 - 61 days	50%*
60 - 31 days	75%*
30 days or less	100%

Another thought is if someone can take their place if they can't go, you can usually do a name change for no fee or very low fee (like $50).

 

[havaneselover]

Some ramblings and questions...

My extended family is wanting to plan a trip for this summer to include my family, my sister's family and my mom. We did this 3 years ago and flew to Hawaii - did two nights at waikiki beach, took NCL's 7 night cruise around the islands and then spend 5 nights at Aulini. It was a great trip and we thought it would be the only time we did it because of kids getting older, etc.

Anyway, my mom is wanting to try it again. The biggest issue is my girls - one graduated from college last May. She is still looking for "her job", so hopefully will be working somewhere different by July when we would most likely travel. Therefore, her vacation time is questionable. DD2 will graduate this May, so she also is very up in the air about her summer schedule possibilities.

To make it more complicated, everyone is looking into an Alaskan cruise this time. We Love cruises, but they are probably the most difficult type of vacation to change after you've booked (at least as far as I know). So, here in lies my questions:

1. Is there any type of trip insurance that could be purchased that would cover one of both of my DD's not being able to go after rooms are booked? I looked at the CSR insurance because we could pay with points/ charge the rest on that card, but it doesn't seem like it would apply.

2. Wondering what other trips anyone has taken that worked well for multiple generations.

My mom will be 76 when we travel and is in pretty good health, but not an overly active person, so can't walk long distances without tiring, etc. That's part of the reason we think cruising would be good because she's familiar with them and it's easy to do things at varying paces.

My sister has two girls who will be the youngest at 11 and 15 at the time of the trip, so they are old enough that they don't need to be entertained the entire time, but still want to have something fun to do sometimes.

If anyone has any advice / knowledge about this, I would love any input!

I know the insurance DCL offers (which I believe is Allianz) has cancel for any reason. I believe you only get 75% back now (used to be more). I personally think cruises are great for multi-generation trips and offer a ton of options. Everyone can do what they want during the day and meet up at dinner. I've done Alaska in 2018 with my then 13 and 14 year olds and will do it again this year. It was amazing (even with Disney's itinerary--I'm sure on Princess or one of the other lines that go to Glacier Bay it's really incredible).

 

[Haley R]

I've said this before, I enjoy repeat trips because I find familiarity to be relaxing! So of course, for you, this sounds like a great plan to me! While a baby can be unpredictable, by going to the same Airbnb in a place you've been before, you've really created some predictability to your trip! And I love that idea!

One thing that was really holding me back was how long the plane ride will take and will have to do a positioning flight. I still think it’s worth it to go somewhere we really want to go to. We’ll just have to be prepared and make the most of it. Right now we’re planning on buying the baby his own business class seat because sitting with him on our lap for 12 hours doesn’t sound appealing. I’m excited that we can just go back and chill because we rushed everything last time

 

[Haley R]

are you going back to Tokyo Disneyland? I’m really excited for those vlogs!

Dh would rather not but I think it would be so fun with the baby. There would be so much for him to see and touch. I think we would maybe do 2 days there. I would be perfectly fine skipping a majority of the rides. It would be more for the experience for our son than for us. Plus the staff there are fantastic and I think they’ll love seeing a baby lol. If we go I’m sure we’ll dress him up because that’s a big thing in Tokyo

I’m hoping we can keep cranking out the videos. I’m excited just to watch our TDR videos

 

[LilSweetPeaPhoto]

WOW people, 3 days away = 45 pages! But I did it..

I'm the outlier here with possible good news for you I do this hobby (against advice) with credit card debt and we had low scores when we started. My husband had a foreclosure on his report (was not on mine). However, we did not have any collections so I'm not sure how that will factor in.

Advice is if you have debt, you should not have this hobby. But, this hobby allowed me to separate old debt from new charges and I'm paying off my van as soon as we run taxes. I've already paid off one credit card and I'll pay off another this year as well, or at least get really close to it. I thought it would take me much longer to reach this point so I'm really happy about this.

My first card was Southwest, my score on Transunion/Equifax was low 600. I followed that with a second Southwest and then 5 months-ish from the first I applied for CSR with a sub-650 credit score and was instantly approved. My husband did not get into the game until the fc dropped and at that point we had a new mortgage on his report as well. I had also added him as AU to my CSR to help boost his score a little by adding more available credit to his numbers.

Only you can decide if you can handle this or if it will get you further into trouble. I'm just sharing my story to say it is possible, but you're going against the "rules" so to speak. That first app was scary, I thought it would be a denial, but it's been a fun few years and I'm so much ahead of where I would be otherwise. I'm really not sure how collections play in though so you've got a 50/50 chance in my opinion.

I'm carrying about $7k in CC balances that I inherited during my divorce. Currently I'm passing those around to 0% transfer fee 0% balance credit cards (I could pay them off, but I'm banking interest, LOL). I pay off all my current card "in the game". So you can do it. My credit score has always been good. I finally cracked 800! But if you are disciplined you can do it.

I'm good as long as we don't have to watch Britney Spears...

Hey no knocking Brit. I had a blast being her for Halloween, LOL

Have you tried saying this...I heard it might work:

I do this to my 14yo all the time. Esp when my hair is purple. And around her friends. LOL

Does anyone have firsthand experience transferring money from PayPal to a Chase account? I know Chase can be weird locking accounts with ACH transfers and didn't know if a couple hundred from PayPal from time-to-time would also cause an issue?

Chase is my bank (and has been in some form since birth) and I transfer between the 2 all the time.

Okay with that done, I'll start a new post for my questions