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

[newski_mom]

You can try searching "Mastercard" on this site Link. Won't be perfect, but might give you some ideas.

I think most (all?) of the Barclays cards are Mastercards. Also, AA, IHG, and Citi Premier which is at a high SUB but you might need no inquiries in the last 6 months for better odds.

I'm waiting for my Citi Premier (80K/$4K MSR - all time highest offer) to arrive and it's a MC that I'm planning on meeting spend through Plastiq, so if you are 0/6 then that's one to consider. BoA has some MCs too, I've used biz BoAs on Plastiq for mortgage in the past and I've been lucky that my service processor counts as travel on the Customized Cash Rewards card - that is extremely YMMV though.

Thank you both! I wish I could get the citibank, but DH and I both got the AmEx gold in early April, so I'd have to wait until next month for them. The rest have all been business cards in the last 6 months.

I also just got an email that they cancelled my payment from yesterday. They said it was a peer to peer payment (it's not). I'm trying to chat with them now to see if I can send them the invoice that I have to back up what I"m paying her. It is being sent to a personal address, but she is an interior decorator and I actually splurged and had her do some work for me. I would think that should qualify, but I'll see what they say.

 

[lsutigers03]

Same, but DH and I switch who hold the CSR each year. When you do that the AF is -$50. Use the $300 travel credit twice.

So far I've used one $300 credit and paid one AF. I'll get another $300 after my November statement posts and my AF shouldn't hit again until March. So I'll definitely use it again before the AF posts and then decide if I want to keep it. Every year do you PC a card to the CSR to get the $300 credit right away and delay the AF posting? DW only has one Chase personal card which is the CF and that was PC'd from the CSP. She's at 5/24 until March 2023. Maybe when she's under I'll apply her for the CFF just to get her a second card that can be PC'd to a CSR. In the meantime can I PC her CF again in less than a year?

 

[newski_mom]

Same, but DH and I switch who hold the CSR each year. When you do that the AF is -$50. Use the $300 travel credit twice.

So far I've used one $300 credit and paid one AF. I'll get another $300 after my November statement posts and my AF shouldn't hit again until March. So I'll definitely use it again before the AF posts and then decide if I want to keep it. Every year do you PC a card to the CSR to get the $300 credit right away and delay the AF posting? DW only has one Chase personal card which is the CFF and that was PC'd from the CSP. Can I PC the card again in less than a year?

I'm curious about this too - DH has the CSR (has had it since year 1). His annual fee will be coming again in November I think. We both got it the first year with the large bonus and I downgraded mine to a CF after the first year.

Can you explain the timing of switching out each year? The only downside I can think of for us is the car rental insurance. He is always the primary driver when we rent cars, but it would be worth the small upcharge to just reserve in my name and add him as an additional driver if that comes up when the CSR is in my name I would think.

 

[DogCat]

I need some advice. So we just returned from a short road trip. We stayed one night at a Hampton Inn. Shortly after midnight, I awoke and discovered a bed bug in my bed. I caught it and took it to the front desk clerk who apologized and said we would not be charged for our room. However, he was sold out and could not offer us a different room. He told us his manager would call me the next day when he/she came in. We immediately left and found a room at a nearby hotel.

We paid for the Hampton Inn through Chase travel (so Expedia I guess). We asked the clerk if they would also compensate us with additional Hilton points and the clerk replied that it would be up to the manager. Anyway, nobody called me so I called the hampton the next day and was told the general manager was out for the long holiday weekend. She also told me that housekeeping went to the room and "didn't find anything." Um what is that supposed to mean? I found a live bed bug and gave it to the front desk -no further proof is needed.

I see no evidence that my Chase travel points were restored, nor have I received any Hilton Honors points. I am about to call the hotel again and try to speak to the manager. What do y'all think I should request as adequate compensation? And what should I do if they refuse?

 

[Crazed4DisneyinSC]

I booked 2 Hyatt properties, transferred URs for much of it. Andaz Peninsula Papagayo and Los Altos, buyer beware there may be fees for more than 2 people in a room. We have been twice before but not on points. We don't rent a car but plan to use a car service for transfers. We loved Manuel Antonio and Arenal. Monteverde was slightly less impressive. We loved Tortuguero the most during turtle hatch season (October I think). Also enjoyed Cano Negro boat tour.

Thanks for the info! We have a stash of URs that we were holding onto for Japan, so we could use those for CR instead and just work on earning more URs to replenish. So Hyatt would be a good option for us! I’ll look into those!
If Monteverde isn’t as great as the other places, maybe we’d just focus on Manuel Antonio and Arenal for now. I looked at Tortuguero, but we wouldn’t be able to be there during turtle hatch season so it might not be worth it.

These questions are all leading up to the next card(s) we get of course, since we have some big expenses (about $8-10k) from now til the end of the year. So I’ve been trying to figure out which cards to get for those bonuses/what works best for next years trips. I was leaning into the Hilton Surpass (for hotels in Tokyo), but now I’ll probably hold off on that and get another CIU or CIC, or Hyatt card, if Costa Rica becomes our new plan. Probably two cards, one for myself and DH.

 

[afan]

I had the same thought. Last year was Target, Amazon and Walmart IIRC

I remember using it to buy the target gc when they offered 10% off. Guess I'll use another card this year. Hopefully freedom has good categories I don't think I've really used it since groceries.

 

[becauseimnew]

So far I've used one $300 credit and paid one AF. I'll get another $300 after my November statement posts and my AF shouldn't hit again until March. So I'll definitely use it again before the AF posts and then decide if I want to keep it. Every year do you PC a card to the CSR to get the $300 credit right away and delay the AF posting? DW only has one Chase personal card which is the CF and that was PC'd from the CSP. She's at 5/24 until March 2023. Maybe when she's under I'll apply her for the CFF just to get her a second card that can be PC'd to a CSR. In the meantime can I PC her CF again in less than a year?

Yes, so DH is calling soon to PC his CSR to CF. His travel credit reset last month, AF posted on the 1st.
I PCed my Flex to CSR in July because I needed to book our June 2023 flights with a CSR. My travel credit will reset in August, then I’ll PC the card back to a flex.

And your DH can. PC his CF to CSR even if it has been less than a year. Only new cards less than 12 months can’t be PCed

 

[wanderlust7]

Thank you both! I wish I could get the citibank, but DH and I both got the AmEx gold in early April, so I'd have to wait until next month for them. The rest have all been business cards in the last 6 months.

The Citi Premier is sensitive to hard pulls. It doesn't matter if it was for a personal or business card. If you're existing Amex customers, they probably didn't do an inquiry for the gold. Chase always does a hard pull, so since you just got the CIU, your chances won't be that good if Citi pulls the same credit report(s) as Chase. They both tend to pull Experian and/or Equifax, so it's likely they'll pull the same one, but it can vary by the state you live in and for each person.

 

[platamama]

I remember using it to buy the target gc when they offered 10% off. Guess I'll use another card this year. Hopefully freedom has good categories I don't think I've really used it since groceries.

Do you have a Redcard? I use my Redcard for the 5% off and then walk into customer service and make a payment with a vgc/mcgc (I change the PIN first) that I pick up from office supply stores (5xUR) or grocery store (5xUR w my Flex - for now since I signed up when it was 5x groceries for the first 12 month - or whatever card I'm MSing on).

 

[afan]

Do you have a Redcard? I use my Redcard for the 5% off and then walk into customer service and make a payment with a vgc/mcgc (I change the PIN first) that I pick up from office supply stores (5xUR) or grocery store (5xUR w my Flex - for now since I signed up when it was 5x groceries for the first 12 month - or whatever card I'm MSing on).

Nope. Had the debit, pretty sure they closed it since I stopped using it. But I also thought the 5% doesn't work when you buy a target gc, which is the only thing I used it for.

It's not a huge deal, just expected better categories from discover given the past few years. I could add the card to google pay but I don't want to have to go in store to buy the gc.

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

I need some advice. So we just returned from a short road trip. We stayed one night at a Hampton Inn. Shortly after midnight, I awoke and discovered a bed bug in my bed. I caught it and took it to the front desk clerk who apologized and said we would not be charged for our room. However, he was sold out and could not offer us a different room. He told us his manager would call me the next day when he/she came in. We immediately left and found a room at a nearby hotel.

We paid for the Hampton Inn through Chase travel (so Expedia I guess). We asked the clerk if they would also compensate us with additional Hilton points and the clerk replied that it would be up to the manager. Anyway, nobody called me so I called the hampton the next day and was told the general manager was out for the long holiday weekend. She also told me that housekeeping went to the room and "didn't find anything." Um what is that supposed to mean? I found a live bed bug and gave it to the front desk -no further proof is needed.

I see no evidence that my Chase travel points were restored, nor have I received any Hilton Honors points. I am about to call the hotel again and try to speak to the manager. What do y'all think I should request as adequate compensation? And what should I do if they refuse?

Do you have a picture of the bed bug and the name of the front desk clerk that you showed the bug to?

I'd try to reach the hotel manager live (hold for them if they're not available and send them an e-mail with your phone number). I'm not terribly patient, so if I didn't speak to the manager within 48 hours (max) then I'd reach out to Chase (you need to be persistent with Chase, otherwise you won't get anywhere).

 

[platamama]

Nope. Had the debit, pretty sure they closed it since I stopped using it. But I also thought the 5% doesn't work when you buy a target gc, which is the only thing I used it for.

It's not a huge deal, just expected better categories from discover given the past few years. I could add the card to google pay but I don't want to have to go in store to buy the gc.

Ah, I don't think the Redcard is worth a 5/24 slot, so getting the Target gift card makes more sense in your situation.

 

[ten6mom]

To use the GE credit on the Venture X, I just use it to pay for the GE application, or is there something else special I need to do?

 

[Azndjdude]

I booked direct flights BWI to MSY on SW today for spring break. As others have said, they were pricey, so fingers crossed that the price drops or they run a promo I can take advantage of! My sisters are supposed to come along on this trip, but they decided to hold off on deciding to see if the flight prices drop based on how expensive they are. There were WGA available for my flight, they were just $$$!

I noticed that last month, when they opened their booking window for January/February, Southwest priced all of their flights (for me) at a higher rate (basically you want to go from Austin to Orlando, it's $X on Sunday thru Thursday and then higher on Friday and Saturday). But then as the weeks went, the prices got adjusted to what I would expect as "dynamic based on demand." I went from $500 for a roundtrip down to $279. My theory, is that they know that people are going to book on the first day they open the next window so they go to their very top price and then a few weeks later when the demand settles, they adjust the prices so they reflect the demand. I have no data to back this up, but to go from $500 down to $279 (it could have been down to $198, but I need to be in Orlando at a specific time/date) is a bit crazy to me.

 

[DogCat]

Do you have a picture of the bed bug and the name of the front desk clerk that you showed the bug to?

I'd try to reach the hotel manager live (hold for them if they're not available and send them an e-mail with your phone number). I'm not terribly patient, so if I didn't speak to the manager within 48 hours (max) then I'd reach out to Chase (you need to be persistent with Chase, otherwise you won't get anywhere).

Thank you! I did take a few pictures of the bug but I failed to get the name of the front desk clerk. Every time I call the hotel, the manager is not there or not available (or so I am told.) I guess I will call Chase.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

If Monteverde isn’t as great as the other places,

Maybe I expected too much. I mean much of Costa Rica is rainforest and I thought a cloud forest would be somehow different. It wasn't really.
Three places in 10 days is a little much for me but if you don't mind moving hotels every couple days it's probably doable.
As for wildlife, we saw the most in Tortuguero, followed by Manuel Antonio then Cano Negro. The volcanoes are also interesting but kind of one stop. We stayed at lomasdelvolcan.com in a bungalow with a view of Arenal; and did a short hike to the crater lake at Poas Volcano for a few hours. Neither is a days long adventure IMO.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Thank you! I did take a few pictures of the bug but I failed to get the name of the front desk clerk. Every time I call the hotel, the manager is not there or not available (or so I am told.) I guess I will call Chase.

Maybe call Hilton corporate. They might be interested in

 

[afan]

This is interesting from r/churning. Seems they didn't call into recon the biz card that was denied due to IP but it's now been approved.

--- After being initially denied for CIC due to IP from sanctioned country issue, just checked P2’s app and see card that was previously denied in profile, so appears they are retroactively approving those previously denied because of IP issue

 

[lsutigers03]

To use the GE credit on the Venture X, I just use it to pay for the GE application, or is there something else special I need to do?

Just use it to make the payment

 

[Crazed4DisneyinSC]

Maybe I expected too much. I mean much of Costa Rica is rainforest and I thought a cloud forest would be somehow different. It wasn't really.
Three places in 10 days is a little much for me but if you don't mind moving hotels every couple days it's probably doable.
As for wildlife, we saw the most in Tortuguero, followed by Manuel Antonio then Cano Negro. The volcanoes are also interesting but kind of one stop. We stayed at lomasdelvolcan.com in a bungalow with a view of Arenal; and did a short hike to the crater lake at Poas Volcano for a few hours. Neither is a days long adventure IMO.

Thanks for the added info and recs! We have been to both the Amazon rainforest and a cloud forest in Ecuador, and they were VERY different there. But it sounds like that's not so much the case in Costa Rica. We've also done volcanoes in Hawaii and in Ecuador... I think we would more so be doing Arenal for the hiking, hot springs, and caves. I will have to check out Tortuguero... I do see alot of people talking about it on other forums, it just looked very far away from the other places. I think we'll probably try to stick to two places... so it can be more of a relaxing trip than a jam packed one.
I looked up the Hyatt close to Manuel Antonio and it looks great! I'll have to wait to book, since we're planning for next November.