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

[SouthFayetteFan]

Those who have booked rental cars through the UR portal, if you cancelled and rebooked because the price dropped, how quickly did your URs come back? I've done it with hotels and it was always in 10min or so.

I’d like to say it was a similar timeline (10 min or so) when I did it. I don’t remember being angry so it must’ve been quick LOL!

 

[hsmamato2]

question re: Hilton offer of 250/50 on my card.... say I booked a points+cash res,and the total cash due was like $255 INCLUDING tax..... (so like 230 without tax) would that 255 trigger the $50 back? or is it pretax spending at Hilton.com?
ETA..... so I read the fine print, it says not applicable on prepaid rate etc. Does this mean unless it's paid at the front desk for a room kind of thing it doesn't trigger it? Anyone have experience with this sort of deal?

 

[DisneyMandC]

The Wire is amazing!! I'm loving The Good Place too, but I've only watched it on Netflix so I haven't seen the latest season.

Same for me on The Good Place! I keep meaning to check and see if I can stream the current season on NBC.

The Wire is probably my favorite show after Seinfeld (odd combo, I know). It gets referenced at least once a week at my job lol. I actually had a defendant with the last name Barksdale last year, and the officers said they discussed The Wire with the defendant and how he shared the same last name with Avon hahaha

 

[FloridaNative8]

Also, am I the only one here who watches all the messed up and, um vulgar, shows? I just finished binge watching Mindhunter. I'm rewatching The Wire for the third time. DH and I have been watching a ton of Veep in preparation for the new season to start Sunday. And I'm counting down the days to the final Game of Thrones season

Not the only one!!! While I love Golden Girls, the original 90210 (currently on Hulu!), the Office and Parks & Rec, I LOOOVE shows like House of Cards, Billions, Shameless, and of course - GOT. I'm so anxious/scared/nervous/excited for the final season. I read the books, and listen to podcasts about it - our neighbors and I are about to watch season 7 to prepare ourselves. We'll get together every Sunday for a watch party, and drink GOT wine, of course

 

[amalone1013]

I’d like to say it was a similar timeline (10 min or so) when I did it. I don’t remember being angry so it must’ve been quick LOL!

That's what I was thinking... I cancelled/rebooked on 3/19 to save ~400 URs (why not...) but I got busy so I did not watch/relogin that day to see if they came back, and my total points doesn't quite add up in my head. Just SM'd.

 

[elgerber]

I can't even comprehend how it's even possible to have never seen GG. I think it's only on hulu, but if The OC ever gets on netflix or you get hulu, watch it!

Also, Team Logan! I'm aware of all of the arguments of any team and it's still my pick. .

Ditto to this, love The OC, and also team Logan. I know all her guys were terrible, but honestly so is Rory half the time. But I just adore Logan LOL.

Haha I didn’t know so many of you liked it. I’m only on episode 4 but I like it so far. We’ve gone through so many Netflix shows that I feel like I’m running out. Some of our favorites are friends, vampire diaries, parks and rec, and the office

I have watched every episode of the Vampire Diaries twice, and the Originals. I really miss them since they are gone, so I have to get my fix with Legacies. Yes, I am almost 50 LOL.

Could I BE wearing any more clothes?

I have the Funko Pop of this!!!

I watch GG on UP and they're in the 2nd half of season 5 so I'm enjoying them. I tend to skip parts of 2 and 3 but I've probably see every ep at least 3 times.

I watch on Up while I work too, I swear it takes them about 2 weeks to go through the entire series.

Don’t give anything away! Right now Rory just got with Dean. By the way, I had no idea Jared padalecki was in this and I find it ironic that his name happens to be dean

That really messed with me too, when we started Supernatural, after I had seen the entire Gilmore Girls series.
We love the Good Place too, unfortunately we fell way behind and never caught up. I am usually more of a dark show type of person, vampires, zombies, paranormal/supernatural, just plain old creepy stuff LOL.

 

[wed100105]

The easiest thing to do is simply tell them you damaged your card. If you don’t want to lie, just take a knife to it and scratch it up a little (not the card reader) . Tell them to just send a replacement card and that they don’t change the number so you don’t have to change everything online. That works.

Also- to anyone who isn’t doing this already with your CSR: never have it for more than one year. Get the CSR, use the travel credit of $300, pay the $450, after the first year and second wave of AFs, use the $300 travel credit again and then downgrade the card within 45 days to get your full refund (used to be 60) of 2nd AF.
Then, if you have a P2 or another Chase UR card, PC that card to a CSR and rinse/repeat. You should constantly be PCing that card annually, but it’s worth keeping because of the 1.5:1 ratio and the unmatchable insurance. Plus, you’ll always get $600 for $450

I've never done this, but I'm intrigued. I've had my CSR for a couple of years now.

 

[amalone1013]

If my SW Plus card AF is due Jun 1st, and I upgraded it to SW Priority right now, I should get the 7500 anniversary points instead right?

 

[DisneyMandC]

Not the only one!!! While I love Golden Girls, the original 90210 (currently on Hulu!), the Office and Parks & Rec, I LOOOVE shows like House of Cards, Billions, Shameless, and of course - GOT. I'm so anxious/scared/nervous/excited for the final season. I read the books, and listen to podcasts about it - our neighbors and I are about to watch season 7 to prepare ourselves. We'll get together every Sunday for a watch party, and drink GOT wine, of course

DH loves House of Cards but I haven't watched it. And my BIL loves Shameless. I'm feeling the same way about the final season lol. I've also read all the books and just got Fire and Blood with my last audible credit.

 

[Judique]

This is a super interesting discussion to me. I like to deep-dive on travel blogs every so often, and I've seen pictures and reports from places like Turkmenistan and Democratic Republic of the Congo. Turkmenistan has a guided tour for tourists much like North Korea so the dollars are going directly to the regime. I'm super interested in such a thing from a curiosity standpoint but don't know if I could ever bring myself to do something like that from an ethical perspective.

I had a learning experience when older daughter went to Kyrgyzstan for Peace Corps. I learned things I can't easily forget.

 

[miztressuz]

The easiest thing to do is simply tell them you damaged your card. If you don’t want to lie, just take a knife to it and scratch it up a little (not the card reader) . Tell them to just send a replacement card and that they don’t change the number so you don’t have to change everything online. That works.

Also- to anyone who isn’t doing this already with your CSR: never have it for more than one year. Get the CSR, use the travel credit of $300, pay the $450, after the first year and second wave of AFs, use the $300 travel credit again and then downgrade the card within 45 days to get your full refund (used to be 60) of 2nd AF.
Then, if you have a P2 or another Chase UR card, PC that card to a CSR and rinse/repeat. You should constantly be PCing that card annually, but it’s worth keeping because of the 1.5:1 ratio and the unmatchable insurance. Plus, you’ll always get $600 for $450

@have2getaway

If you're just getting a replacement for damage that can all be done through the web/app. But I didn't see an option for plastic so I imagine you'd have to call if they still do that. Otherwise the less human involvement the better

But I think the caveat to the 1yr CSR is if you're actually using the card for the travel insurance. My understanding is the card you booked the travel with still needs to be active if you want to make a claim. If I'm wrong then I'd happily switch my CSP and CSR in a couple months, but I was planning to keep the CSR one more year since our trip falls into year 2.

 

[Natgridenergy]

I thought those were unsafe to buy? I'm afraid from what I read

I've gotten 4k worth and have had no issues.

 

[Happy814]

2nd- the more I travel the more I look at the intentionality of my travel. We’ve even had “carbon footprint” talk over on Reddit regarding our huge amount of travel. So I try to make sure my family gets something out of every trip we go on that makes it “worth” it for more than just ourselves. I have an affinity for thinking about many things and the older I get the more I realize that every single decision has both good and better outcomes so choose the better (or; more cynically, bad and worse outcomes so choose the “least bad”).

A perfect example of this is the saying “white savior” complex (which has nothing to do with being white, of course, and I dislike the term because of that). But it’s essentially any citizen (regardless of race) from a developed nation that goes to an orphanage in a developing nation, gives a bunch of stuff away, snaps their pics, then leaves. And how little that actually benefits those people vs donating to organizations that promote sustainability and independence in those respective nations. Well, the converse is that whenever I have my children with me in a foreign country (5 and 9), we always carve out a full day for volunteer work that is representative to that countries needs (Animal rescue in Costa Rica, Orphanages in Peru, when my kids are old enough we’ll do youth suicide groups in Japan but for now we do old folks homes there). And the challenge I face is exactly what to do. Using Peru as an example; we have the ability to use an orphanage group that has the teens who are a part of the orphanages there that work as tour guides and that allows them to learn sustainability (which we use). But my kids are also too young to fully grasp that (my 9 year old does somewhat but my 5 year old is oblivious). So we still choose to visit an orphanage to allow my American children to interact and play with the orphans as it is more impactful for them (my kids) than it is even the orphans themselves. And I can wrestle with the fact of if that is selfish or not, but I believe that through those acts, I am shaping my children to be much better humans that can make a better impact in the world had they not experienced those interactions.

Sorry for the long read. As you can tell, I enjoy those discussions too.
They’re fun for me and I fully believe that mindless action, no matter what you are doing leads to a less meaningful life. Having these discussions internally and externally fortify your beliefs, shape your morals and lead to a more meaningful life; which is what life should be about.

Edited for typos/grammar

Thank you so much for sharing. I do think often about the impact of traveling, and I know I should work towards being more intentional about reducing our carbon footprint. I especially loved the perspective you shared about volunteering in other countries. I think that is wonderful and so thoughtful. I'm curious how you find and set up times to volunteer?

 

[Andysol]

But I think the caveat to the 1yr CSR is if you're actually using the card for the travel insurance. My understanding is the card you booked the travel with still needs to be active if you want to make a claim. If I'm wrong then I'd happily switch my CSP and CSR in a couple months, but I was planning to keep the CSR one more year since our trip falls into year 2.

This is exactly correct and sorry for not mentioning it because it is very important.

 

[striker1064]

question re: Hilton offer of 250/50 on my card.... say I booked a points+cash res,and the total cash due was like $255 INCLUDING tax..... (so like 230 without tax) would that 255 trigger the $50 back? or is it pretax spending at Hilton.com?
ETA..... so I read the fine print, it says not applicable on prepaid rate etc. Does this mean unless it's paid at the front desk for a room kind of thing it doesn't trigger it? Anyone have experience with this sort of deal?

This is a thing with the Aspire resort credit as well. Hilton is quirky in that when you book a fully prepaid rate, it's billed by Hilton corporate (or something), and thus does not trigger the credit/offer. But when you pay at the front desk or book a cancellable rate that requires a one night deposit, that is billed by the individual hotel and it WILL trigger the credit/offer.

I had a learning experience when older daughter went to Kyrgyzstan for Peace Corps. I learned things I can't easily forget.

Kyrgyzstan is a good example - absolutely picturesque countryside but former Soviet influences. But I've read it's much better than a lot of other places and Bishkek is relatively safe.

 

[Andysol]

Thank you so much for sharing. I do think often about the impact of traveling, and I know I should work towards being more intentional about reducing our carbon footprint. I especially loved the perspective you shared about volunteering in other countries. I think that is wonderful and so thoughtful. I'm curious how you find and set up times to volunteer?

I look at the needs of the countries and I also reach out to others who have been there. For Japan, as an example, I have an employee in our Hawaii office who has done two mission trips there with her children and reached out. Even if you aren’t religious, the advice is usually still applicable. Teen suicides were her suggestion for Japan which is certainly a topic that transcends religion (the pressures placed on the youth and the honor in their culture).

A simple ask on reddit for that particular country will give you many options of what a need that country may have that is unique to that country as well. Proyecto Asis in Costa Rica was a suggestion from Reddit’s Costa Rica sub that we did this last trip.

Outside of that, once you get ideas and if no specific group/organization is given, you’ll have to take it to Google.
As much as I dislike Social media, that is an option also.

 

[Judique]

This is a thing with the Aspire resort credit as well. Hilton is quirky in that when you book a fully prepaid rate, it's billed by Hilton corporate (or something), and thus does not trigger the credit/offer. But when you pay at the front desk or book a cancellable rate that requires a one night deposit, that is billed by the individual hotel and it WILL trigger the credit/offer.



Kyrgyzstan is a good example - absolutely picturesque countryside but former Soviet influences. But I've read it's much better than a lot of other places and Bishkek is relatively safe.

The volunteers land in Bishkek, but then they were sent out into small areas where they live with families.

 

[hsmamato2]

This is a thing with the Aspire resort credit as well. Hilton is quirky in that when you book a fully prepaid rate, it's billed by Hilton corporate (or something), and thus does not trigger the credit/offer. But when you pay at the front desk or book a cancellable rate that requires a one night deposit, that is billed by the individual hotel and it WILL trigger the credit/offer.



Kyrgyzstan is a good example - absolutely picturesque countryside but former Soviet influences. But I've read it's much better than a lot of other places and Bishkek is relatively safe.

thanks for the tip. Not worth worrying over a small savings

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

.

 

[miztressuz]

This is exactly correct and sorry for not mentioning it because it is very important.

So since I mentioned it I dived down the rabbit hole into the Benefits Guide to see if I was thinking of the right thing, and now I'm not sure. Unfortunately I can usually find multiple interpretations of a sentence so sometimes I'm just reading things in that aren't there but it sounds like maybe, no? From the CSR benefits guide (bolded emphasis, mine) -

Covered Trip means any pre-paid tour, trip or vacation when some portion of the cost for such travel arrangements less any redeemable frequent flyer miles, points, coupons or certificates, or other types of redeemable Rewards has been charged to your Account:
• while the insurance is in effect
• to a destination of greater than one (1) mile from your primary residence
• and is for a time period that doesn’t exceed sixty (60) days in duration
​

So initially I read that as the covered trip was while the insurance is in effect and thus I'd need to hang on to my CSR (makes the most sense, right?). But could one argue that the charge just has to occur while the insurance is in effect? As long as it was charged to the account while it was a CSR and had the insurance in effect, does that satisfy that provision? Now I don't know what they intended cuz my brain sucks
I wonder if anyone has experience with that? I don't recall it being discussed much.

In any case the $150 to hang onto the card for one more year is worth it for piece of mind and I've already offset that by my Swagbucks earnings so I think I'll stick with the plan. But now I'm curious if it's necessary. I would think so as most insurance requires that the plan be in effect at the time of the occurrence (i.e. the actual trip interruption/cancellation/delay event) and so this is probably just an unintended consequence of too many words in one sentence. (and my twisted brain...)