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

[ten6mom]

I just noticed on the Best Western site (BW is my usual hotel... I know that doesn't really fit here!) that they're currently running a promotion for "buy a $200 BW gift card, get a $50 bonus gift card" (up to a max of 5 bonus cards).

If I know for a fact that I have a BW stay coming up that I will have to pay cash for, can anyone think of a reason NOT to buy enough cards to cover my upcoming stays? It seems very straightforward but this group is so good at thinking of things that never even occurred to me.. I wanted to check with you.

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

Where is everyone going in 2024?

We are finally going back to Disney World, we haven't been since 2021. And taking an extended family Cruisemas. Nothing else has been finalized.

Also lightly planned/sketched for now.

January- Mexico weekend
March- Cayman Islands
June- Tuscany
Fall- perhaps Disney

 

[GZanta77]

DoC is reporting a Hilton Amex link that seems to be bypassing the 'pop-up'. Don't know if it'll hold (or if the bonus will pay out) but I went for it and got approved.

https://www.doctorofcredit.com/american-express-hilton-no-pop-up-offers/

 

[KPK02090]

With all the Japan talk... I'm thinking of booking in 2025.

Me too!

 

[StephPlum]

I just noticed on the Best Western site (BW is my usual hotel... I know that doesn't really fit here!) that they're currently running a promotion for "buy a $200 BW gift card, get a $50 bonus gift card" (up to a max of 5 bonus cards).

If I know for a fact that I have a BW stay coming up that I will have to pay cash for, can anyone think of a reason NOT to buy enough cards to cover my upcoming stays? It seems very straightforward but this group is so good at thinking of things that never even occurred to me.. I wanted to check with you.

Your plan sound good.

I like best western and actually have a stay with them later in the fall. Did you also see they have an offer stay 2 nights, get a 50 gift card? Doesn’t fit with my dates unfortunately.

 

[ten6mom]

Your plan sound good.

I like best western and actually have a stay with them later in the fall. Did you also see they have an offer stay 2 nights, get a 50 gift card? Doesn’t fit with my dates unfortunately.

Thank you! And yes I did; unfortunately none of my stays (the ones I already know about!) are in the correct time frame, either.

But the summer is yet young!

 

[calypso726]

Which Greek cruise itinerary did you select? I am eyeing the Virgin French Daze & Ibiza Nights itinerary. I like the idea of two days in port in Ibiza and Mallorca.

We are doing the Greek Island Glow cruise next year.

 

[calypso726]

Today was mostly a travel day to get from Moorea to Bora Bora. Taxi from the Hilton Moorea to catch the ferry to Tahiti, then a taxi to get to Papeete airport so we can fly to Bora Bora with a brief stop in Huahine, then another ferry to get to the Conrad Bora Bora.

When we checked in, I was delighted and utterly surprised to find we had been upgraded from our standard King Lagoon view suite to a King Beach front pool villa. I’m simply blown away. I am so looking forward to spending time in the hammock and the private plunge pool. Pics below and the full room tour video link as well.

View this content on Instagram

View this content on Instagram

 

[LilSweetPeaPhoto]

I have to say, thanks to all the tickets I'm buying right now, I'm gonna knock out this Amex Biz spend. I think I dropped $400 on Joey Mac (my childhood BF), $750 on Jimmy Buffett (who knows when I'll get that show). And I just dropped $245 on Matt Rife yesterday! Sooo happy I got lucky w/ those tickets. It felt like Tay Tay all over again getting those! Speaking of which, it's Taylor this week for us. We'll see if my daughter earns back her ticket. She got another tattoo, a few weeks ago. She has gone nuts getting them since she turned 18. SO my BF (holder of the Tay Tay tickets) told her if she got another one, he was selling her ticket. Well the ex got her a tattoo as a grad present and didn't think to mention it to me first! Eventually we came up w/ a way she can earn them back, but she has been slacking! I truly think I'm going to have to sell her ticket. The other thing is her BFFs from Texas drove up for this show! She didn't bother to tell them she lost her ticket. UGH!

@calypso726 - I want to be you when I grow up! Seriously! Getting my BF to travel is like pulling teeth! We're doing Mexico in 2 weeks. I have 2 nights in Vegas planned in July and he's whining. UGH! I'm sure he'll bail on going to NC w/ me once again in August

We haven't had a "car payment" in quite some time either, but both of our cars are around 180k+ miles so we know time is limited. We were just talking tonight that we'd heard the average car payment is something like $1000/mo and people are signing up for 6 and 7 year terms. Yeesh. We prefer to pay cash when we can for a vehicle, but with the prices out there, I am not looking forward to having to pay for one or two vehicles in the coming few years.

I was getting scared seeing some of the lease pricing. I pay $389 for my Jeep Grand Cherokee now. I can't fathom paying too much higher. My daughter's car we financed at 0% for 84 months! I got her a 2020 Trax (new) in March 2021. I think I snagged one of the last GREAT 0% offers. I do see 1.9% floating around here again. Granted her Trax was only $16k, but the payment is $211/mo. Her dad and I split the cost right now. But I figure that payment is low enough she can assume it in a few years. The deal was when my son is 16 she either starts making the payments herself, or he gets her car. We're not used car people, esp after knowing what we do to our cars (leases), LOL. So we liked the idea of having a "used car" we knew the history of. My son just turned 14. So she has 2 years of "free" left, LOL. That said I have no clue what I'll be able to afford for my son when the time comes. I think we'll be in a different boat w/ him. We knew our daughter wasn't going away to school. So it made sense to get her a car. I think my son will go away to school. So not sure we'll want to "buy" anything knowing that he likely won't get much use when away at school. We shall see.

DoC is reporting a Hilton Amex link that seems to be bypassing the 'pop-up'. Don't know if it'll hold (or if the bonus will pay out) but I went for it and got approved.

https://www.doctorofcredit.com/american-express-hilton-no-pop-up-offers/

Nice! I jumped on the offer a few weeks back. Really hoping they honor it as I've had the card before.

 

[AndreaDM]

With all the Japan talk... I'm thinking of booking in 2025.

Me too!

Same! Well, I've been planning on 2025 for a few years now since that's when my DD graduates from college and she's wanted to go forever. I feel like I'm planning for 2024 though since that's when I'll have to swoop in and try to get lie flat seats on points which seems like a full time job in itself! Fortunately, we can be very flexible with travel dates.

We haven't made any plans for 2024 yet, but I'm hoping for Spain/Portugal/Morocco. Still trying to decide what to do in Nov. for DH's 50th birthday! Just got back from an Alaskan cruise so we need to recover from that a bit.

 

[MsOnceUponATime]

Morning! Bumping to see if anyone has the answer ...

Question - cruises and paying with CSP AND gift cards - as long as I pay a portion of the cruise with my CSP I have those trip cancellation/etc., bennies, correct?

 

[hsmamato2]

DoC is reporting a Hilton Amex link that seems to be bypassing the 'pop-up'. Don't know if it'll hold (or if the bonus will pay out) but I went for it and got approved.

https://www.doctorofcredit.com/american-express-hilton-no-pop-up-offers/

I saw this and I'm intrigued! I can't hold the basic Hilton x2,right? Or would this bypass that? If I were to cancel my current (older) Hh cc, how long would I wait to app thru this link? I'd love another no fee Hh with that bonus

 

[hsmamato2]

I have no plans for 2024 yet.....I'm just gonna wait and see what opportunities roll around!

 

[thevalley]

Good morning friends!!!

I need some advice. I last applied for CIU on March 18, 2023. I understand with chase it’s recommended to wait 90 days for another application. I am 2/24 and would like to do a MDD for the sapphire/reserve cards. Am I risking it or should I apply before the sapphire SUB decreases. TIA

 

[Crazed4DisneyinSC]

Instant approval on Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite MC. 80,000 AA miles with $4000 spend/4 months, and $95 AF waived for the first year. And an $8K credit limit! (way way more generous than Chase ever is to me, lol). I had a mailer for this offer. Seems like quite a few of ya'll jumped on a 70K AA offer recently, so I'm not mad at this one at all!

ETA: we're planning on using these miles for our domestic trips next year. By doing some dummy searches, seems like 80k miles will be enough to get us roundtrip to Jackson, WY for our Yellowstone trip, and roundtrip to Salt Lake City for our Utah trip! We fly from an AA hub, so we always get pretty good redemptions on AA miles it seems.

 

[lsutigers03]

It has been a great morning so far. I was approved for the AAdvantage Aviator Red World Elite MC. 70k points for one purchase is awesome. DW was approved for another CIC. Initially I got the application in review message. Logged into her Chase account and the new card was there. Can I apply her for the AAdvantage Aviator Red card now or should I wait a specific number of days?

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

I just noticed on the Best Western site (BW is my usual hotel... I know that doesn't really fit here!) that they're currently running a promotion for "buy a $200 BW gift card, get a $50 bonus gift card" (up to a max of 5 bonus cards).

If I know for a fact that I have a BW stay coming up that I will have to pay cash for, can anyone think of a reason NOT to buy enough cards to cover my upcoming stays? It seems very straightforward but this group is so good at thinking of things that never even occurred to me.. I wanted to check with you.

Your plan sound good.

I like best western and actually have a stay with them later in the fall. Did you also see they have an offer stay 2 nights, get a 50 gift card? Doesn’t fit with my dates unfortunately.

Any guesses if gift cards purchased on their website code as travel?

We have a stay coming up in August, so would definitely be able to use the $200 and the $50 bonus card (bonus card expires 11/30/23). Just not sure if it will code as travel (use my CSR for travel credit and 3x) or code differently (my 2% all day card).

Come to think of it, I could use VGC that were 5% on my CIC and save the CSR travel credit for a different stay I have coming up where I can't use VGCs...

 

[Arcades]

I saw this and I'm intrigued! I can't hold the basic Hilton x2,right? Or would this bypass that? If I were to cancel my current (older) Hh cc, how long would I wait to app thru this link? I'd love another no fee Hh with that bonus

The general rule is that you can have each Amex card once per lifetime. But, if you apply for one you have already had and do not get the pop up, the bonuses tend to pay out in that situation.

 

[palhockeymomof2]

Good morning friends!!!

I need some advice. I last applied for CIU on March 18, 2023. I understand with chase it’s recommended to wait 90 days for another application. I am 2/24 and would like to do a MDD for the sapphire/reserve cards. Am I risking it or should I apply before the sapphire SUB decreases.

If your last Chase application before March was over 90 days I’d try for the MDD, then take a long break from Chase if it’s successful

 

[LynnTH]

Going to Disney/Universal in August. Dining day - got everything we wanted except Space 220 Lounge. Even trying a few new things this time. We normally stick to the same places.

Anyway. We get in real late on Friday night and staying at the Hyatt at the MCO Airport. Going to Universal the next morning. Does anyone know if Uber Picks up at the hotel or do we need to go into the airport and get Uber there?