I love credit cards so much! v6.0 - 2023 (see first page for add'l details)

[LynnTH]

Also wanted to add that I think Amex is a solid option for big spend like that. Also consider their biz cards. And don't forget to support each other if that's the best offer you can find.

Also, if DH is getting emails about the Gold, it's could be a NLL (no lifetime language) offer, meaning he's eligible for that card even though he's had it before. Something to keep in mind if you like the Gold.

Remember, Amex wants you to activate all of your benefits, so make sure to do that first. It's silly, but otherwise if something requires activation and you don't, you won't get credit.

I recall you're a fan of SW. I select that as my airline of choice typically and then purchase fares for $100 or under to trigger the incidental credit. You can then cancel the fare and get a credit, which now never expires. You'll be able to double dip and do that come January 1, 2024. Note, you don't have to select an airline until you are ready, so if you're not ready yet, you can wait to select the airline. Just don't forget to do it before you try to trigger the credit.

I also like Amex for their transfer bonuses, which I feel like they have often. And they have a ton more offers/coupons than Chase.

But if you have any bandwidth for another Ink between the two of you, that would be the route I would choose first.

Thanks. Yes - we do fly SW a lot. Are the SW Credits only good for the person who had the original flight or can they be used for anyone?

 

[LynnTH]

I've recently discovered the benefit of the 35% points back thing on Amex travel with the business plat and its made it a keeper for me. There's been quite a few flights I've booked recently where the points cost was really high but the cash cost was reasonable so the Amex travel totally made sense. You spend the points to begin with but then get a refund about a month later.

You can definitely double dip on the credits and if I recall you can actually triple dip those credits if you time it right too but I've never gone that far.

So, the 35% back is only on the Biz Plat and only if you book through the AMEX site correct? And it is only good for the airline you select for Biz or 1st class but for any airline if 1st Class???

 

[linzjane88]

So, the 35% back is only on the Biz Plat and only if you book through the AMEX site correct? And it is only good for the airline you select for Biz or 1st class but for any airline if 1st Class???

Yep I believe that is all correct. I wonder about the differentiation between business and first and if that matters? I would hope it was both.

After getting my first points refund I decided it was one of the cooler perks of the card. I am really slow to catch on to appreciating these perks everyone has been using for ages.

 

[EACarlson]

Thanks. Yes - we do fly SW a lot. Are the SW Credits only good for the person who had the original flight or can they be used for anyone?

SW credits, called Travel Funds, for WGA fares are locked to the passenger. WGA+ and above can be used by anyone. As of right now there is a workaround that you take your WGA credit, book a WGA+ fare, wait two days and then cancel. That TF will then be transferable. This may end up being closed at some point but right now it works.

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

Had to call the Opus XVI in Bergen this morning since the points didn't go back to my account. I spoke to the Front Desk Manager and she said she'd be happy to shorten my reservation, but if she adjusted on her end I wouldn't get the points back. So back to World of Hyatt; spent just over an hour on hold, but luckily I spoke with a very knowledgeable CSR, who called the hotel, confirmed it was okay to drop a day off the reservation, then manually deposited the points back into my account. I asked the same CSR about the hotel in Koh Samui, Thailand, and she called the hotel. Due to the difference in time zones they weren't able to do anything, but she said to call them first thing in the morning, have them drop the day off my reservation, to notate the account well, then call WoH and they would manually add the points back to my account. Hopefully I won't have to wait on hold tomorrow morning!

 

[wanderlust7]

For any California peeps:

For a girls weekend flying into any of the San Fran area would you visit the Montery area, downtown SF, or Napa area?

We are doing a last minute trip and neither one of us like wine (yes to adult beverages, just not wine), and don't particularly enjoy the city but are looking for good food and a spa day. When I say we don't do the city I mostly mean the gross city. We live about 45 min from Portland and the last weekend trip we did to The Nines I saw a man in his city apartment window doing a a very solo activity in his window and also had to step over human poo from the tent people on the sidewalk. This was before covid and the homeless situation is insanely worse than now. All of those things make me not want to city.

But maybe the nicer places (Ritz, St. Regis, etc) in downtown San Fran aren't so much like that? I don't know if all cities are as bad as our city ?Or do we go the predictable route and just do a beach thing....decisions.

Alila Ventana in Big Sur is very nice if you can find award availability (adults only, includes food). We've also enjoyed Ritz Half Moon Bay and Carmel Valley Ranch. In Napa, the Andaz Napa was nice and great location downtown (felt safe). Also liked the Alila Napa Valley (adults only), which is walkable to St Helena where there's lots of great food.

 

[wanderlust7]

So, the 35% back is only on the Biz Plat and only if you book through the AMEX site correct? And it is only good for the airline you select for Biz or 1st class but for any airline if 1st Class???

For economy, it's only good for the airline you select. Biz/first can be any airline. I believe it does need to go through Amex Travel.

 

[LilSweetPeaPhoto]

So it gets better.....The BOS to DUB flight cancelled!!!!! I "met" a guy on the Ireland travel group when I posted about the weather/flight concerns. He was on the same flight. He was trying over the weekend to change his flight but they said it would be $1700! He told me they sat on the plane 3 hours before it was cancelled for maintenance issues. So SOME force did not want us to go to Ireland! Since my mom wasn't able to cancel her ticket officially she easily got her taxes and avios back this morning. The rep she used told her to have me call around 1pm and I should get my avios back too! Well when I called at 1pm they said they couldn't refund because the people to do that left at 1pm. UGH!!! The rep my mom spoke to also said that the phone system has been terrible the past few days.

So I guess I call tomorrow at 9am and try and get my Avios back. The rental car company called today and said that will be refunded (we'll see if I get the full amount). Wifi Candy refunded all but $15 for "shipping" since they had already shipped the device. Hyatt gave back our Dublin hotel points. The hotel I booked in Galway cancelled my reservation. My mom said Chase is trying to get back the hotel night she booked using URs. Jetblue refunded my DTW to BOS flight and gave us each an additional $100 travel bank credit. And since I booked the BOS to DTW w/ miles, I got those back. So I think we might only be out less than $50. Ohhhh, my hilton stay for when we landed. It was too late to cancel it, but it gets me diamond for another year. So I'm okay w/ it, LOL.

And on the bright side, I see that AL flies from CLE direct now! So as soon as the March 2024 dates open, we're going to book out of CLE. It leaves at 8pm, lands at 9am. It's a 7 hour flight, so plenty of time to sleep. And it's only a 3 hour drive for us!

So sorry to hear how things worked out and the issue about the Avios points. Will you try to get them back via another avenue? Not that it’s at all as bad as your points situation, but I called to see if we could upgrade our economy seats to Biz for our return from Shannon in June (we have Biz for BOS->DUB) and they gave me an email address to try. The answer was that since we booked using points at the avios site instead of aerclub at AL, we have no upgrade path. I thought I did a good job of research and didn’t think you could book directly with AL!? I earned the points using an AL card, so they were definitely in the AerClub system. Maybe things have changed?

Anyway – it’s a bummer about your trip, but maybe sometime in the future there will be a trip that everyone can be excited about. Really sorry!

That's the frustrating part. You HAVE to book via avios, but then they tell you that you booked "third party" so Aer Lingus can't help. They took the points from my aerclub acct, so I shouldn't be "punished", it's your loyalty program!

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

I have that -- but is that the best way to maximize my savings? If I pay cash for the flights and pay with my SW card I can get hit that $75 travel credit that the SWRR card has. And if I buy through Kroger it's 4x's fuel points right now...
There's too many options for me to do a lot of correct math on this one.

I can’t imagine that the Chase offer + the travel credit won’t be the best deal (at least up to the max limit of the Chase offer). My offer has a $40 cash back maximum. So if you bought a $400 SW gift card, you’d get $40 back plus $75 back with the travel credit - so net cost of $285, or almost 29% off!

Agree with @iujen94 to combine the Chase offer with the travel credit. If you are doing round-trip, you could do it as two one-ways. Then you could do the Kroger fuel points for that, and if you max that out, you save 14% on those fuel/gcs.

 

[afan]

So it gets better.....The BOS to DUB flight cancelled!!!!! I "met" a guy on the Ireland travel group when I posted about the weather/flight concerns. He was on the same flight. He was trying over the weekend to change his flight but they said it would be $1700! He told me they sat on the plane 3 hours before it was cancelled for maintenance issues. So SOME force did not want us to go to Ireland! Since my mom wasn't able to cancel her ticket officially she easily got her taxes and avios back this morning. The rep she used told her to have me call around 1pm and I should get my avios back too! Well when I called at 1pm they said they couldn't refund because the people to do that left at 1pm. UGH!!! The rep my mom spoke to also said that the phone system has been terrible the past few days.

So I guess I call tomorrow at 9am and try and get my Avios back. The rental car company called today and said that will be refunded (we'll see if I get the full amount). Wifi Candy refunded all but $15 for "shipping" since they had already shipped the device. Hyatt gave back our Dublin hotel points. The hotel I booked in Galway cancelled my reservation. My mom said Chase is trying to get back the hotel night she booked using URs. Jetblue refunded my DTW to BOS flight and gave us each an additional $100 travel bank credit. And since I booked the BOS to DTW w/ miles, I got those back. So I think we might only be out less than $50. Ohhhh, my hilton stay for when we landed. It was too late to cancel it, but it gets me diamond for another year. So I'm okay w/ it, LOL.

And on the bright side, I see that AL flies from CLE direct now! So as soon as the March 2024 dates open, we're going to book out of CLE. It leaves at 8pm, lands at 9am. It's a 7 hour flight, so plenty of time to sleep. And it's only a 3 hour drive for us!


That's the frustrating part. You HAVE to book via avios, but then they tell you that you booked "third party" so Aer Lingus can't help. They took the points from my aerclub acct, so I shouldn't be "punished", it's your loyalty program!

Glad it sorta worked out. Maybe you can go for longer next year.

Not that it helps, but at least everyone gets the same bad service.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1636077327041073153

 

[softballpooh]

I've searched and read several times before posting but can someone confirm if I am thinking of this correctly? I have SW selected for my airline for my Amex Plat. I'm booking a flight for $99 and paying using my Amex Plat and then will later (how long do I wait?) cancel this flight. When I cancel the flight, I will only be offered a travel credit. But that travel credit sits in my account and I can apply it to the next flight that I want to book. And the charge that is on my Amex will be erased by the travel credit. Is this accurate? And I can do this twice to maximize the $200?

The annual fee is coming in 4 days and right now I have no retention offers on my account so I do not plan to keep it. I'll just need to wait until the credits from the flights post before closing.

 

[MsOnceUponATime]

Agree with @iujen94 to combine the Chase offer with the travel credit. If you are doing round-trip, you could do it as two one-ways. Then you could do the Kroger fuel points for that, and if you max that out, you save 14% on those fuel/gcs.

Only doing a one way on this one as we're island hopping mid trip. Going to book mainland to the island and from the island to mainland seperately on United. Thank you both for your help! @FreeDiningFanatic @iujen94 !

 

[EACarlson]

I've searched and read several times before posting but can someone confirm if I am thinking of this correctly? I have SW selected for my airline for my Amex Plat. I'm booking a flight for $99 and paying using my Amex Plat and then will later (how long do I wait?) cancel this flight. When I cancel the flight, I will only be offered a travel credit. But that travel credit sits in my account and I can apply it to the next flight that I want to book. And the charge that is on my Amex will be erased by the travel credit. Is this accurate? And I can do this twice to maximize the $200?

The annual fee is coming in 4 days and right now I have no retention offers on my account so I do not plan to keep it. I'll just need to wait until the credits from the flights post before closing.

Not sure about the flight cost, buying a flight for $99 may end up over the limit by time taxes and fees are included. FlyerTalk has a lot of DPs about what amounts work. Wait two days before cancelling, if you cancel the next day you may still end up with it refunded automatically rather than the TF you want. I will send you a PM with the link to the FlyerTalk thread.

 

[LynnTH]

Not sure about the flight cost, buying a flight for $99 may end up over the limit by time taxes and fees are included. FlyerTalk has a lot of DPs about what amounts work. Wait two days before cancelling, if you cancel the next day you may still end up with it refunded automatically rather than the TF you want. I will send you a PM with the link to the FlyerTalk thread.

Can you send me a link also to the FT Thread!! Thanks so much!

 

[EACarlson]

Can you send me a link also to the FT Thread!! Thanks so much!

PM Sent

 

[mmmears]

For any California peeps:

For a girls weekend flying into any of the San Fran area would you visit the Montery area, downtown SF, or Napa area?

We are doing a last minute trip and neither one of us like wine (yes to adult beverages, just not wine), and don't particularly enjoy the city but are looking for good food and a spa day. When I say we don't do the city I mostly mean the gross city. We live about 45 min from Portland and the last weekend trip we did to The Nines I saw a man in his city apartment window doing a a very solo activity in his window and also had to step over human poo from the tent people on the sidewalk. This was before covid and the homeless situation is insanely worse than now. All of those things make me not want to city.

But maybe the nicer places (Ritz, St. Regis, etc) in downtown San Fran aren't so much like that? I don't know if all cities are as bad as our city ?Or do we go the predictable route and just do a beach thing....decisions.

The city is a city. If you don't want to see the downsides of a city, I don't think you'll love being in SF. I'm partial to the Monterey area, because I love how the coastline looks, but I'm not sure when you're going and it can be cold there (not sure if that would bother you). Lots of dining and a nice aquarium and that gorgeous coastline. We enjoy Carmel Valley Ranch a lot, but it's inland. They have a spa there and lots of hiking trails and activities. I'm headed there soon because I really like the place.

I'll also second the Ritz Carlton at Half Moon Bay. Lovely hotel, great food, pretty coastline, and also quite cold but there are lots of fire pits there. We've been going there for weekend getaways for a few years and it never disappoints.

Napa is nice, and will be warmer, but it's a lot about wine. Very good food there, though. We didn't stay anywhere fancy, just the Hyatt in Sonoma on a FNC (it was a cat. 4 IIRC).

Big Sur is gorgeous if you can swing it. It's a longer drive, but really special. I haven't stayed at the hotel there because we have had free access to a private home which is impossible to beat (although that's ending).

Hope this helps, and hope you have a great time!

 

[djmeredith]

Thanks for the info! just want to be sure I have this right - your United flight in Biz - BOS toLHR - cost 60k in points and only $5.60 in cash? No other fees or taxes? That sounds very doable! I live just outside Boston, so hopefully I won’t have to consider repositioning.

Yes, It was only 60K and $5.60 each for EWR-BOS-LHR. BOS was one of the repositioning cities I considered and I definitely saw some comparable pts deals from BOS. Just keep checking daily on multiple airlines.

 

[IFlossU]

I've searched and read several times before posting but can someone confirm if I am thinking of this correctly? I have SW selected for my airline for my Amex Plat. I'm booking a flight for $99 and paying using my Amex Plat and then will later (how long do I wait?) cancel this flight. When I cancel the flight, I will only be offered a travel credit. But that travel credit sits in my account and I can apply it to the next flight that I want to book. And the charge that is on my Amex will be erased by the travel credit. Is this accurate? And I can do this twice to maximize the $200?

The annual fee is coming in 4 days and right now I have no retention offers on my account so I do not plan to keep it. I'll just need to wait until the credits from the flights post before closing.

This exact scenario has worked for me multiple times. I usually cancel a couple of days later. I try to find flights that are $99.98 or there abouts.

 

[elgerber]

DD is finally applying for an Amex MR card, so that she can transfer her 60k MR from the checking account, to her Delta account. And darnit if she is still in pop up jail! What does it take to get an AMEX card these days? She only has one, has only ever had one, and she puts a little on it each month.

Ok then, she got approved for the BBP with no pop up. Too bad she can't meet that spend. I told her to just pick that one, since the offer isn't great on that card anyway, and it went and approved her for the offer. Go figure.

 

[Budzooka]

Question on Chase Ink cards that earn 5x at office supply stores. For those that use this to purchase gift cards, are you physically going into the store or is there an online option? I couldn’t find the ability to purchase online at Office Depot or Staples. If you are going in person, what is the most you suggest purchasing at once?

I will order from BJs $3000 or so at a time with no problem but it’s all online. Need to replenish for summer vacation plans to WDW and DCL.

Appreciate the input.