I love credit cards so much! v5.0 - 2022 (see first page for add'l details)

[disneylover81]

I carry a fair number of AF cards each year. Some I keep because the benefits outweigh the fee for me. Some are just around for a year and then get cancelled, to be churned again or downgraded for a year to be upgraded with a bonus down the line. With regards to the CSR, I have never looked at how much I spend in travel to make it worth keeping. One can earn 3x on the CIP for travel purchases and that's only a $95 AF. Granted, the travel protections are not the same. I have always recommended that one look at how many URs are being redeemed through the travel portal at .015 with the CSR vs .0125 with the CSP to determine if it is worth keeping.

The important thing to look at is what does it cost you per year to redeem your UR points through the travel portal? It is very possible that keeping a CSP or CIP over a CSR is actually costing you more money. This is especially true for those who are redeeming for paid seats on flights via the UR portal.

Math: $550 AF on CSR - $300 travel credit you are spending anyway = $250. Difference between $250 CSR - $95 CIP/CSP = $155.

Let's say you are going to redeem a $500 RT flight for a party of 2. That's $1000. If you hold a CSP or CIP that should cost you 80,000 UR points since you can redeem at .0125 with those cards.

If you hold a CSR those flights would cost you 66,667 points. That is a difference of 13,333 points which is equivalent to $166.66 in the CSP/CIP UR portal. So holding the CIP or CSP over the CSR just cost you $166 in points. When you factor in the $155 difference between a CSR over a CSP/CIP then it still costs you an additional $10 to keep a card with a "lower AF" over the higher AF card. That is just one redemption example. How much is it costing a family of 4 to keep the lower AF card? How much does it cost folks who are redeeming well beyond $1000 annually via the UR travel portal?

AFs are part of my travel budget. We also have DVC. Between all the DVC contracts and various hotel cards with FN certs, we aren't spending much on accommodations. DVC dues are another story. I pay our DVC dues annually with Disney GCs. I purchase many at 5x UR points from Office Supply stores with my Chase Ink Plus (current closest equivalent would be the Chase Ink Cash). I will also purchase them throughout the year at a discount of 10% or more using Chase offers and Amex offers. Buying Disney GCs for DVC dues, ABD or DCL at 5x bonus categories on the Ink+/CIC, Freedom cards do help make a up a good portion of the URs we earn each year. We also use the Disney GCs to pay for food and merch while we are in WDW or DLR. I try to get as close as possible to 5x on all spend. Lastly, don't forget shopping through the UR portal to earn additional URs. This game definitely requires spreadsheets at some point. Hope this helps

This all actually helps a ton ! You make a lot of good points and a lot for me to look into and consider for my family’s travel needs. I haven’t had to start paying annual dues yet for DVC because I split the cost into 3 monthly payments so it didn’t hit me all at once and my last payment is gonna be charged next week. So dues payments are coming up soon so I definitely need to do like you and buy the Disney GC’s at the discount. My only problem is the closest Office Depot is an hour away and I don’t think there is a staples anywhere close to me either. Can you buy the GC’s online and still get the same deals or does it have to be in store ? If I have to drive an hour, not sure if it’s worth it by the time I pay for the premium gas my vehicle requires.

 

[hsmamato2]

My PP card still works, lol.

whattttt how long after you got rid of CSR is it still working? Just a silly question from me anyway since I lost mine years ago and could never figure out how to get another....and our CSR is long ago gone...(and I think I used the PP option a grand total of once)But I'm curious now!

 

[trenty]

This all actually helps a ton ! You make a lot of good points and a lot for me to look into and consider for my family’s travel needs. I haven’t had to start paying annual dues yet for DVC because I split the cost into 3 monthly payments so it didn’t hit me all at once and my last payment is gonna be charged next week. So dues payments are coming up soon so I definitely need to do like you and buy the Disney GC’s at the discount. My only problem is the closest Office Depot is an hour away and I don’t think there is a staples anywhere close to me either. Can you buy the GC’s online and still get the same deals or does it have to be in store ? If I have to drive an hour, not sure if it’s worth it by the time I pay for the premium gas my vehicle requires.

Staples online has the Disney gift cards for a small fee (I think it is 1.99).

I have bought gift cards using these types of offers all this year to pay off my dues. I am averaging about 11% discount, not counting anything I get from cashback portals. I am almost done with this year's dues and will then start to buy gift cards for next year's.

 

[hsmamato2]

Update, and the Chase CSP $50 hotel credit. This did indeed work, got the credit, cancelled and so far they have not clawed it back. My statement since then has closed.

this is a thing? I need to do this

 

[calypso726]

This all actually helps a ton ! You make a lot of good points and a lot for me to look into and consider for my family’s travel needs. I haven’t had to start paying annual dues yet for DVC because I split the cost into 3 monthly payments so it didn’t hit me all at once and my last payment is gonna be charged next week. So dues payments are coming up soon so I definitely need to do like you and buy the Disney GC’s at the discount. My only problem is the closest Office Depot is an hour away and I don’t think there is a staples anywhere close to me either. Can you buy the GC’s online and still get the same deals or does it have to be in store ? If I have to drive an hour, not sure if it’s worth it by the time I pay for the premium gas my vehicle requires.

Glad to hear it helps! Staples does have Disney GCs online but they add a $1.99 up charge. I certainly would not be driving an hour back and forth to buy gift cards an hour away. That said, there are other ways to get discounted Disney GCs. Chase offers are one method I use. When Shop Disney is at 10% I will buy a Disney GC online. Right now, I have discounts of 10% and 20% for Best Buy, Home Depot and Macy's. BB and HD sell Disney GCs and I don't recall if Macy's does but there's one nearby so I will check. BJs and Sam's sell discounted Disney GCs too. I was recently approved for a Citi Premier and am purchasing $500 Disney GCs for $479.99 which is just over 4% off to make the MSR on that card. I could also do $50 GCs for $47.98 which is also just over 4% off. I've been known to get lazy and hit an MSR just by paying DVC dues when the timing works out. Thinking back when the Hilton Aspire was released in January a few years back. I applied day 1, was approved and got the cc number online, went ahead and paid whatever the MSR was back then on my DVC dues. Fastest MSR I've ever hit LOL This year I've been good about buying the discounted cards all year and hope to have the amount I need or close to it when the dues come up. Anyhow, that's my round about way of suggesting one can use their dues to hit an MSR on a new credit card bonus.

 

[KS_Disney_Dad]

Morning all!

So I’ve been waffling back and forth between the CapOne Venture and CSP. Then I research more about the Venture X and decided that’s the card for us. I like knowing ahead of time with the pre approval tools which card(s) I would qualify for. I don’t like taking the hard pull hit on credit report only to get a “sorry not at this time” reply.

With CapOne it’s the regular Venture.

If I apply for the X and get denied, will they offer the regular Venture instead or will I need to apply for that separately? Ideally my order of preference is CapOne X - CSP - Regular Venture.

 

[calypso726]

Staples online has the Disney gift cards for a small fee (I think it is 1.99).

I have bought gift cards using these types of offers all this year to pay off my dues. I am averaging about 11% discount, not counting anything I get from cashback portals. I am almost done with this year's dues and will then start to buy gift cards for next year's.

That's awesome! I'm perpetually buying them and still a little below 10% this year so far. I tell myself it's for the dues but then I find myself using them for Disney Dress shop dresses, Loungefly bags and all manner of Disney things that aren't DVC dues

 

[hsmamato2]

Yes unfortunately they no longer give you the $60 up front every year but at least it is something.
I just found out that you also get instacart credits of $15 a month and I believe they do petco not sure about petsmart though.

I'm glad y'all brought this up.... I've been ignoring these perks for a while but now I'm paying attention..... so basically what does a free membership in instacart do for you? and then you $15 a month off an order?

 

[NewbieMom]

Absolutely. PYB has been good to us too and we are looking forward to the Galapagos later this year thanks to that. However, I don't know if it will stay or not. Therefore, I stick with basing redemptions for travel via the UR portal for someone on the fence between that and CSP. I also do not book flights via the UR portal since we are mostly in search of lie flat seats for flights and generally speaking the cost is absurd and far more points to pay for with UR points as opposed to using miles. I like to use UR portal travel purchases with points for places I can't use hotel points or airline miles to pay for. Something like Ashford Castle in Ireland, Fairmont Masai Mara in Kenya, Four Seasons in Whistler, Gran Melia in Rome etc.

Is your Galapagos trip booked on points? Do you mind sharing which currencies you used to book what? This is my ultimate bucket list trip, but it might take me another 10 years to get there!

 

[disneylover81]

Staples online has the Disney gift cards for a small fee (I think it is 1.99).

I have bought gift cards using these types of offers all this year to pay off my dues. I am averaging about 11% discount, not counting anything I get from cashback portals. I am almost done with this year's dues and will then start to buy gift cards for next year's.

That’s awesome ! I’m about to check this out online right now. I have 6 chase cards so it’ll be great to take advantage of that savings.

 

[NewbieMom]

This all actually helps a ton ! You make a lot of good points and a lot for me to look into and consider for my family’s travel needs. I haven’t had to start paying annual dues yet for DVC because I split the cost into 3 monthly payments so it didn’t hit me all at once and my last payment is gonna be charged next week. So dues payments are coming up soon so I definitely need to do like you and buy the Disney GC’s at the discount. My only problem is the closest Office Depot is an hour away and I don’t think there is a staples anywhere close to me either. Can you buy the GC’s online and still get the same deals or does it have to be in store ? If I have to drive an hour, not sure if it’s worth it by the time I pay for the premium gas my vehicle requires.

Follow the gift card thread. I've learned so many tips & tricks from them. Before disboards, I didn't even pay notice Best Buy and Home Depot sells Disney gift cards. Fox (who manages the thread) posts all the most current deals on the front page and you can comb through which stores you have close to you or has an online option.

 

[NewbieMom]

So DH and I decided to take a Disney Cruise in January, I have 10% Office Depot offers on about 10 of our cards. How rude is it to use all 10 cards at once? I'll try to go early in the morning so hopefully it isn't too busy. What's the max number of cards you have used at once?

Lately my OD has been a pain! We have the offer on 6 cards too, but my store now requires only the manager can run gc transactions (so the cashier calls over manager), and then the manager would only allow 1 gc per person (per day I guess? I haven't tried going back same day.)

 

[disneylover81]

Glad to hear it helps! Staples does have Disney GCs online but they add a $1.99 up charge. I certainly would not be driving an hour back and forth to buy gift cards an hour away. That said, there are other ways to get discounted Disney GCs. Chase offers are one method I use. When Shop Disney is at 10% I will buy a Disney GC online. Right now, I have discounts of 10% and 20% for Best Buy, Home Depot and Macy's. BB and HD sell Disney GCs and I don't recall if Macy's does but there's one nearby so I will check. BJs and Sam's sell discounted Disney GCs too. I was recently approved for a Citi Premier and am purchasing $500 Disney GCs for $479.99 which is just over 4% off to make the MSR on that card. I could also do $50 GCs for $47.98 which is also just over 4% off. I've been known to get lazy and hit an MSR just by paying DVC dues when the timing works out. Thinking back when the Hilton Aspire was released in January a few years back. I applied day 1, was approved and got the cc number online, went ahead and paid whatever the MSR was back then on my DVC dues. Fastest MSR I've ever hit LOL This year I've been good about buying the discounted cards all year and hope to have the amount I need or close to it when the dues come up. Anyhow, that's my round about way of suggesting one can use their dues to hit an MSR on a new credit card bonus.

You are rocking it ! I’m amazed and am so grateful for all these great tips. I am about to log on my chase app and write down all the offers on each card and get started. I am glad to have found out that DVC dues can be paid by GC at a discount. I never even knew it was an option. I was just going to charge it on one of my credit cards and be done with it until now.

 

[disneylover81]

Follow the gift card thread. I've learned so many tips & tricks from them. Before disboards, I didn't even pay notice Best Buy and Home Depot sells Disney gift cards. Fox (who manages the thread) posts all the most current deals on the front page and you can comb through which stores you have close to you or has an online option.

Thanks ! I’m about to head there now !

 

[LynnTH]

Answering my own question in case anyone else needs to do this. I ended up calling Capital One for the answer.

In order for authorized users on Venture X to enroll as members of Priority Pass Lounges and get their own membership card, they need to visit a specific link. It's prioritypass dot com/capitalone
After navigating to the correct site, it was quick and easy to sign up. Just need the Venture X card number as each is unique.

Thanks. Planning on adding on the kids to my card - just for the priority pass. Will keep this for future info.

 

[georgina]

Absolutely. PYB has been good to us too and we are looking forward to the Galapagos later this year thanks to that. However, I don't know if it will stay or not. Therefore, I stick with basing redemptions for travel via the UR portal for someone on the fence between that and CSP. I also do not book flights via the UR portal since we are mostly in search of lie flat seats for flights and generally speaking the cost is absurd and far more points to pay for with UR points as opposed to using miles. I like to use UR portal travel purchases with points for places I can't use hotel points or airline miles to pay for. Something like Ashford Castle in Ireland, Fairmont Masai Mara in Kenya, Four Seasons in Whistler, Gran Melia in Rome etc.

This really reinforces my point that we all use our points differently. I have never flown business class, let alone lie-flat, and am not interested in such aspirational hotel stays. Much more basic travel for us. Still feel we have gotten good value out of the CSR.

 

[calypso726]

Is your Galapagos trip booked on points? Do you mind sharing which currencies you used to book what? This is my ultimate bucket list trip, but it might take me another 10 years to get there!

Yes. We were able to use PYB with UR points and did cash out some Amex MRs to fund the trip. We weren't traveling in 2020 much and very little last year, so it worked out. There are a number of ways to book Galapagos with UR points. Of course there is accumulate the points and then pick up or upgrade to a CSR to pay with points through the UR portal at .015. If you combine accumulate both UR and Hyatt points and transfer the URs to Hyatt you can book Galapagos with Lindblad/NatGeo via Hyatt and that can result in points being worth .016.

As for flights, we are flying AA from MIA-UIO. We wound up booking our airfare with Celebrity since they were offering a credit towards airfare and it wound up being a better deal than booking straight with AA. I was also able to get multiple AOs for Celebrity between mine and DHs cards along with some AU cards which saved an additional amount of money between statement credits and extra MRs.

 

[calypso726]

This really reinforces my point that we all use our points differently. I have never flown business class, let alone lie-flat, and am not interested in such aspirational hotel stays. Much more basic travel for us. Still feel we have gotten good value out of the CSR.

Yup! Best thing about this forum is that we all use our points differently and have different goals. It really highlights that there is no wrong way to churn. It's nice that the newer folks are able to gain different perspectives and then do what what works best for them and their situations as the rest of us do

 

[eticketplease]

I'm glad y'all brought this up.... I've been ignoring these perks for a while but now I'm paying attention..... so basically what does a free membership in instacart do for you? and then you $15 a month off an order?

I have not activated mine yet nor never used instacart but what I understand is that it is their paid membership program sort of like what we get from doordash for free with the CSR.

I believe there are $0 delivery fees but of course you have to tip.

Apparently there are some stores that allow you to pick up which saves you 5% more.

 

[hsmamato2]

Absolutely. PYB has been good to us too and we are looking forward to the Galapagos later this year thanks to that. However, I don't know if it will stay or not. Therefore, I stick with basing redemptions for travel via the UR portal for someone on the fence between that and CSP. I also do not book flights via the UR portal since we are mostly in search of lie flat seats for flights and generally speaking the cost is absurd and far more points to pay for with UR points as opposed to using miles. I like to use UR portal travel purchases with points for places I can't use hotel points or airline miles to pay for. Something like Ashford Castle in Ireland, Fairmont Masai Mara in Kenya, Four Seasons in Whistler, Gran Melia in Rome etc.

If they brought back PYB in the categories we had at first I'd PC my CSP back to a CSR instantly!