I love credit cards so much!

[calypso726]

I am shooting for flights for my family (9) to Honolulu next Feb. I'm still a little short but it's not the end of the world if I have to pay cash for a couple. Thanks!


I know, I got all geeked up over IHG's 100k pnt offer and pushed it in front of CSP, not a good move and in hindsight worse than I could have imagined. My old car was paid off 3 or 4 years ago. I think the hot tub was the tipping point on credit. I have two mtg's (one is not my financial responsibility anymore as the relocation company bought me out but kept my mtg open and are responsible for the payments until they sell it, but it still on my CR), I have opened 4 personal and 2 business Chase cards in the last 12 mons., and bought a new car and the hot tub in the last month. I pay the balances on any cc each month. I won't be paying the balance on the hot tub because it is 0% finance for 60 mons. I'm a little worried that when the relocation company sells the house and that loan is closed I will take another hit as that is one of my oldest accounts. How long did it take for your DH's to recover?

Ha! I know what you mean. I geek out over 100k anything.

Wow! 9 flights to Hawaii is pretty ambitious. I was struggling with coming up with a plan to get 6 of us in a few years to Hawaii. Please keep us posted on how you make out when the time comes. I think it took a few months for his score to climb back up to where it was after the mortgage was paid off.

 

[Cackyschmackers]

Hi, You guys seem very knowledgeable amd I don't know where to find the answer to this question, so I'll try here: I'm probably going to open a cashback Wells Fargo cc bc they will credit me $200 cash if I spend $1000 in the first three months. 1.5% cashback ( 1.8% for some purchases). My plan was to use it to purchase Disney gift cards from BJs. My question is it says prepaid gift cards do not count towards the $1000 you must spend in the first 3 months. I've tried to look into what a prepaid gift card is vs a regular gift card. It seems like a prepaid gift card is like a Visa w/a set amount loaded onto it? Is that right? Does anyone know? I don't want to use this card for the Disney Gift cards and have it not count towards the first three month minimum. Thank you in advance for any assistance!

 

[Albort]

Hi, You guys seem very knowledgeable amd I don't know where to find the answer to this question, so I'll try here: I'm probably going to open a cashback Wells Fargo cc bc they will credit me $200 cash if I spend $1000 in the first three months. 1.5% cashback ( 1.8% for some purchases). My plan was to use it to purchase Disney gift cards from BJs. My question is it says prepaid gift cards do not count towards the $1000 you must spend in the first 3 months. I've tried to look into what a prepaid gift card is vs a regular gift card. It seems like a prepaid gift card is like a Visa w/a set amount loaded onto it? Is that right? Does anyone know? I don't want to use this card for the Disney Gift cards and have it not count towards the first three month minimum. Thank you in advance for any assistance!

As of right now, Amex is the only one sensitive to Gift cards and visa gift cards. I can't find any data on Wells Fargo though. I did see someone ask but no responses.

 

[wendow]

Hi, You guys seem very knowledgeable amd I don't know where to find the answer to this question, so I'll try here: I'm probably going to open a cashback Wells Fargo cc bc they will credit me $200 cash if I spend $1000 in the first three months. 1.5% cashback ( 1.8% for some purchases). My plan was to use it to purchase Disney gift cards from BJs. My question is it says prepaid gift cards do not count towards the $1000 you must spend in the first 3 months. I've tried to look into what a prepaid gift card is vs a regular gift card. It seems like a prepaid gift card is like a Visa w/a set amount loaded onto it? Is that right? Does anyone know? I don't want to use this card for the Disney Gift cards and have it not count towards the first three month minimum. Thank you in advance for any assistance!

Yes, a prepaid GC is like a Visa debit card or GC.

 

[wendow]

SO...I am now 6/24. It will be 6/2018 until I am under 5/24 again. Curious what others do when they reach this point. Do I just sit tight until I am under Chase's rule so I can get additional Chase cards or go crazy getting other cards?

Dh will be 4/24 this month and then 3/24 in Oct. I want to get the CIP for him so I will use this time to get it.

Just curious what others do. We all must reach a point when Chase is no longer an option. But do you wait them out or just forget about them all together??

 

[Cackyschmackers]

Yes, a prepaid GC is like a Visa debit card or GC.

So, would a Disney gift card be considered a prepaid gift card?

 

[wendow]

So, would a Disney gift card be considered a prepaid gift card?

No, only the MasterCard and Visa type cards.

 

[Albort]

SO...I am now 6/24. It will be 6/2018 until I am under 5/24 again. Curious what others do when they reach this point. Do I just sit tight until I am under Chase's rule so I can get additional Chase cards or go crazy getting other cards?

Dh will be 4/24 this month and then 3/24 in Oct. I want to get the CIP for him so I will use this time to get it.

Just curious what others do. We all must reach a point when Chase is no longer an option. But do you wait them out or just forget about them all together??

unless you have another card you want with Chase, then would hold off on applying. if not, seek other solutions. Perhaps earn more points by closing monitoring your spending and maximizing point earning. Staples has $200 MCGC with a $20 rebate. Im probably gonna use CI+, unload a few on some utilities i need to pay this month. Gonna see if i can do a split payment on my Health Insurance too. Gotta start getting creative with it!

No, only the MasterCard and Visa type cards.

well, in a way, a Disney gift card is still... prepaid... and its still a gift card... lol. I think most CC consider any kind of large gift cards purchase as just gift cards. Level3 data is quite scary... just dont buy gift cards at staples with an amex card... Staples basically sends them your receipt.

@Cackyschmackers Speaking of Wells Fargo, i dont really think there is much of a risk right now. After their whole fiasco, they need customers. They should be turning a blind eye for awhile. Do you have anything to lose if they were to shut you down? Ive been depositing a crap ton of MOs in the past 2 months with them, would be red flags if i did the same with chase haha.
I tried asking in an IRC full of experts... the results i got was... why WF? why not use chase freedom Unlimited? There are other cards that can do better than WF. haha. sorry, i tried.

 

[Lain]

As of right now, Amex is the only one sensitive to Gift cards and visa gift cards. I can't find any data on Wells Fargo though. I did see someone ask but no responses.

Not sure about Wells Fargo, but I've read US Bank is super sensitive to prepaid and third-party gift cards, especially if you use their new Altitude Reserve card+mobile payment (for 3x points) on gift cards -- prepare to be shut down.

Hi, You guys seem very knowledgeable amd I don't know where to find the answer to this question, so I'll try here: I'm probably going to open a cashback Wells Fargo cc bc they will credit me $200 cash if I spend $1000 in the first three months. 1.5% cashback ( 1.8% for some purchases). My plan was to use it to purchase Disney gift cards from BJs. My question is it says prepaid gift cards do not count towards the $1000 you must spend in the first 3 months. I've tried to look into what a prepaid gift card is vs a regular gift card. It seems like a prepaid gift card is like a Visa w/a set amount loaded onto it? Is that right? Does anyone know? I don't want to use this card for the Disney Gift cards and have it not count towards the first three month minimum. Thank you in advance for any assistance!

I'm guessing you're talking about Wells Fargo's Cash Wise card? IIRC, WF had another card (Visa Signature?) that gave 5x back on gas, grocery and drug stores in the first six months, which some people abused with crazy amounts of manufactured spending (essentially, by buying prepaid Visa/MC/Amex gift cards). WF cracked down on abusers, shut down accounts, and eventually capped the net amount of purchases that qualified for the 5x bonus. So WF is well aware of manufactured spending on their cards and have cracked down. How sensitive they are when it's a Disney gift card vs. prepaid Visa/MC/Amex gift cards, when it's on an only 1.5% cash back card, and when it's just a few hundred dollars -- I don't know.

If you're in the market for a 1.5% cash back card, I agree with @Albort -- why not the Chase Freedom Unlimited? It offers 1.5% back on every purchase (in the form of Ultimate Reward points that are redeemable as cash back or can be worth more for travel when transferred to a card like the Chase Sapphire Preferred (1.25x more) or Reserve (1.5x more) for redemption through the Chase Ultimate Rewards travel portal). The Freedom Unlimited also has a $150 signup bonus, but with a lower minimum spend requirement of $500 in 3 months. And Chase definitely doesn't care if you buy Disney gift cards with the Freedom Unlimited.

 

[brownhaired_girl]

Another question for those of you who have booked frequently on the UR site and/or Hyatt. For our Maui trip I am trying to book a room. I called Hyatt and was able to get the first two nights free with my bonus, but they don't have any other standard rooms available right now. So...I am thinking we will move from the Hyatt to the Sheraton Maui. When I book the room is it worth paying more for a certain room or should I just get the cheapest refundable?!? The UR site is just odd how it adds stuff like that a certain room has free wifi and others don't. I know from looking at the Disney rooms it seems like what the room descriptions don't always fit. What would you all do? Book the cheapest or book one that guarantees king bed non smoking etc. The cheapest one is categorized "VIP Resort View" and that is all it says. Thanks.

I'm not sure if this will help but I found this the other day. Also, when I was looking it seemed as though it took fewer Hyatt points/day than UR points (at least for the dates in Aruba I was looking for ) and they transfer 1:1

https://thepointsguy.com/2015/02/what-to-do-when-your-hotel-doesnt-follow-its-own-rules/

 

[kmc8826]

I'm not sure if this will help but I found this the other day. Also, when I was looking it seemed as though it took fewer Hyatt points/day than UR points (at least for the dates in Aruba I was looking for ) and they transfer 1:1

https://thepointsguy.com/2015/02/what-to-do-when-your-hotel-doesnt-follow-its-own-rules/

Thank you! The sites are confusing and you need to be persistent. My plan is to actually call Hyatt tomorrow (didn't want to deal with it on the weekend). I called Friday and have first two nights booked as free nights from the sign up bonus. When I was on the phone with her she said no rooms available for points. But then I found that by playing with it if I started Saturday to our Thursday check out day their are point stays available. So long story short I transferred the 80,000 miles I needed from DH's UR to my UR and then to Hyatt (super easy and happened immediately) and then booked the award nights for the rest of the stay. Only problem is that I now have two rooms booked for Saturday night (one as free award night and one on points). I am hoping they can transfer it all over somehow and I can get refunded the points. It was still a lot less points to book directly with Hyatt (35,000 plus on UR versus 20,000 on Hyatt) so I figure even if they somehow won't I will still come out ahead. I am just excited by this rather unexpected trip! Despite the fact it as of yesterday has now had the number compromised 4 times I am glad I had DH get the CIP this Spring and we both got the SPG Amex for the flights.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

SO...I am now 6/24. It will be 6/2018 until I am under 5/24 again. Curious what others do when they reach this point. Do I just sit tight until I am under Chase's rule so I can get additional Chase cards or go crazy getting other cards?

Dh will be 4/24 this month and then 3/24 in Oct. I want to get the CIP for him so I will use this time to get it.

Just curious what others do. We all must reach a point when Chase is no longer an option. But do you wait them out or just forget about them all together??

I am 8/24 now and won't be under 5/24 until 2019. Probably not getting under 5/24 again. Taking a break from applying for cards right now since my credit score has dropped after 2 CC a couple weeks ago and new auto loan. DH is 4/24 but had to call recon last card, so he is taking a break for a couple months because that stressed him out. Lol.
I am going to focus on Freedom and Discover spending categories for Christmas. I am well on the way to enough points for 2019 vacation, but need Disney GCs and cashback for cruise.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Thank you! The sites are confusing and you need to be persistent. My plan is to actually call Hyatt tomorrow (didn't want to deal with it on the weekend). I called Friday and have first two nights booked as free nights from the sign up bonus. When I was on the phone with her she said no rooms available for points. But then I found that by playing with it if I started Saturday to our Thursday check out day their are point stays available. So long story short I transferred the 80,000 miles I needed from DH's UR to my UR and then to Hyatt (super easy and happened immediately) and then booked the award nights for the rest of the stay. Only problem is that I now have two rooms booked for Saturday night (one as free award night and one on points). I am hoping they can transfer it all over somehow and I can get refunded the points. It was still a lot less points to book directly with Hyatt (35,000 plus on UR versus 20,000 on Hyatt) so I figure even if they somehow won't I will still come out ahead. I am just excited by this rather unexpected trip! Despite the fact it as of yesterday has now had the number compromised 4 times I am glad I had DH get the CIP this Spring and we both got the SPG Amex for the flights.

Not sure with Hyatt, but you may have more luck calling the Hyatt you're booking directly (not the Hyatt reservation number). I wanted to change my Dolphin reservation and couldn't do it online because it kept saying there were no rooms (wanted to go from 4 nights already booked on points, to 3) When I called SPG, they said the hotel was fully booked and they couldn't change my res as they would need to cancel & rebook and they were no nights available to rebook. They ended up transferring me directly to Dolphin front desk who were able to remove one day from my res without rebooking the whole thing.

 

[Cackyschmackers]

unless you have another card you want with Chase, then would hold off on applying. if not, seek other solutions. Perhaps earn more points by closing monitoring your spending and maximizing point earning. Staples has $200 MCGC with a $20 rebate. Im probably gonna use CI+, unload a few on some utilities i need to pay this month. Gonna see if i can do a split payment on my Health Insurance too. Gotta start getting creative with it!



well, in a way, a Disney gift card is still... prepaid... and its still a gift card... lol. I think most CC consider any kind of large gift cards purchase as just gift cards. Level3 data is quite scary... just dont buy gift cards at staples with an amex card... Staples basically sends them your receipt.

@Cackyschmackers Speaking of Wells Fargo, i dont really think there is much of a risk right now. After their whole fiasco, they need customers. They should be turning a blind eye for awhile. Do you have anything to lose if they were to shut you down? Ive been depositing a crap ton of MOs in the past 2 months with them, would be red flags if i did the same with chase haha.
I tried asking in an IRC full of experts... the results i got was... why WF? why not use chase freedom Unlimited? There are other cards that can do better than WF. haha. sorry, i tried.

Not sure about Wells Fargo, but I've read US Bank is super sensitive to prepaid and third-party gift cards, especially if you use their new Altitude Reserve card+mobile payment (for 3x points) on gift cards -- prepare to be shut down.



I'm guessing you're talking about Wells Fargo's Cash Wise card? IIRC, WF had another card (Visa Signature?) that gave 5x back on gas, grocery and drug stores in the first six months, which some people abused with crazy amounts of manufactured spending (essentially, by buying prepaid Visa/MC/Amex gift cards). WF cracked down on abusers, shut down accounts, and eventually capped the net amount of purchases that qualified for the 5x bonus. So WF is well aware of manufactured spending on their cards and have cracked down. How sensitive they are when it's a Disney gift card vs. prepaid Visa/MC/Amex gift cards, when it's on an only 1.5% cash back card, and when it's just a few hundred dollars -- I don't know.

If you're in the market for a 1.5% cash back card, I agree with @Albort -- why not the Chase Freedom Unlimited? It offers 1.5% back on every purchase (in the form of Ultimate Reward points that are redeemable as cash back or can be worth more for travel when transferred to a card like the Chase Sapphire Preferred (1.25x more) or Reserve (1.5x more) for redemption through the Chase Ultimate Rewards travel portal). The Freedom Unlimited also has a $150 signup bonus, but with a lower minimum spend requirement of $500 in 3 months. And Chase definitely doesn't care if you buy Disney gift cards with the Freedom Unlimited.

Thanks, Guys. To answer your questions, I already have a CC that gives me 2% cash back so the Wells Fargo one would just be for the initial $200 sign up incentive (and I'm already a customer and I figure I would easily be approved ). Bc of that I just want to put the minimum ($333.33 lol) a month for the first three months to earn the $200 then close it. So since I earn the 2% on my other CC, I don't want to put too much on the WF one if I open it, and I kind of just wanted to put on the $1000 of Disney GCs bc that's all i need. Hmmm. Not sure what to do.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Thanks, Guys. To answer your questions, I already have a CC that gives me 2% cash back so the Wells Fargo one would just be for the initial $200 sign up incentive (and I'm already a customer and I figure I would easily be approved ). Bc of that I just want to put the minimum ($333.33 lol) a month for the first three months to earn the $200 then close it. So since I earn the 2% on my other CC, I don't want to put too much on the WF one if I open it, and I kind of just wanted to put on the $1000 of Disney GCs bc that's all i need. Hmmm. Not sure what to do.

No reason to close it if it doesn't have an annual fee. You have to keep an eye on it & use it once in awhile but if you leave it open & don't use it much it will raise your credit score because it will raise your total available credit! (Credit Utilization Ratio = credit used / total available credit ...& this metric counts for thirty percent of your credit score.)

 

[Alice Sr.]

did u go over ur 30% utilization on any of your cards? I did 60% on 2 cards and dropped 30 points. Paying my cards off, i recovered those points.

The Well Fargo (special offer was 0% for 60 months) hot tub is 12.4 on a 14.5 credit limit so way over 30%, that is probably a contributing factor. I was unaware that one card over the ideal utilization rate was that bad, I thought it was based on the total CL, which I'm under 12% and according to Credit Karma a positive. Not sure that I want to pay it down. I will not be needing any loans in the near future. I intentionally bought the car before the HT and bought the HT shortly after the car because I was worried about the CL extended to me topping out.

Ha! I know what you mean. I geek out over 100k anything.

Wow! 9 flights to Hawaii is pretty ambitious. I was struggling with coming up with a plan to get 6 of us in a few years to Hawaii. Please keep us posted on how you make out when the time comes. I think it took a few months for his score to climb back up to where it was after the mortgage was paid off.

I know very ambitious, I am definitely out of my league. But at the 12 month window I checked the 2018 cost/availability for the week we will be going in 2019 and it let me book 9 seats so I am assuming they were actually available, and they were at a reasonable price point. I was on track to to meet the required pnts until this happened. I'm pretty mad at myself for not taking your advice, and letting myself be sidetracked from my goal. I'm going to let the dust settle a bit and re-evaluate.

I am 8/24 now and won't be under 5/24 until 2019. Probably not getting under 5/24 again. Taking a break from applying for cards right now since my credit score has dropped after 2 CC a couple weeks ago and new auto loan. DH is 4/24 but had to call recon last card, so he is taking a break for a couple months because that stressed him out. Lol.
I am going to focus on Freedom and Discover spending categories for Christmas. I am well on the way to enough points for 2019 vacation, but need Disney GCs and cashback for cruise.

I really wanted to get those two for Christmas also. I guess since I am taking all the kids to WDW in Dec, the trip can be my DD's and their DH's Christmas present. The babies can pick out their presents (and gifts for their cousins) while we are there, that way I will get 3% on my CSR. Not 5 or 10% but I have to put a positive spin on it. Maybe I'll even come out ahead .

 

[Cackyschmackers]

No reason to close it if it doesn't have an annual fee. You have to keep an eye on it & use it once in awhile but if you leave it open & don't use it much it will raise your credit score because it will raise your total available credit! (Credit Utilization Ratio = credit used / total available credit ...& this metric counts for thirty percent of your credit score.)

But I think that's why I would close it, though. I have two other awards cards that offer 2% back (one only earns 2% on certain purchases ) so I'd just be opening this for the initial reward incentive. Still wondering if the Disney GC is considered a prepaid GC.

ETA: Oooops, I misread your post. Disregard. But still wondering about the prepaid GC thing.

 

[havaneselover]

But I think that's why I would close it, though. I have two other awards cards that offer 2% back (one only earns 2% on certain purchases ) so I'd just be opening this for the initial reward incentive. Still wondering if the Disney GC is considered a prepaid GC.

ETA: Oooops, I misread your post. Disregard. But still wondering about the prepaid GC thing.

I have a wf credit card that I got a few years ago. I think besides the bonus it had 5% on groceries up to a certain amount for a period of time. I keep mine open because last year they sent me an offer to get $25 off if I spent $500. Citi thank you sends occasional offers like this too so I just charge something once a year or so.

 

[gottalovepluto]

But I think that's why I would close it, though. I have two other awards cards that offer 2% back (one only earns 2% on certain purchases ) so I'd just be opening this for the initial reward incentive. Still wondering if the Disney GC is considered a prepaid GC.

ETA: Oooops, I misread your post. Disregard. But still wondering about the prepaid GC thing.

As for the GC thing I avoided answering because personally I don't want to stick my neck out and say it will or it won't because it's not that simple. So here are my thoughts on the matter... Is there the possibility you will be denied a bonus and/or have your CC shut down for purchasing gift cards? Yes. Is it likely? Idk. Will you win an argument with WF over the definition of pre-paid cards (which traditionally do mean Visa, MC etc but could easily be interpreted to mean gift cards)? No. What if a customer service rep says it will count and then WF shuts you down? Doesn't matter what the rep said, you lose that fight too.

There is always risk involved in this. I've triggered bonuses with Chase by buying disney gift cards, no issues. WF is a bit more difficult to get data on because not that many of us are hitting up WF cards right now. Good luck with your decision

 

[mhartman09]

Question regarding booking WDW resorts through Chase portal. I'm thinking of trying to convince DH to book a last minute trip for Christmas weekend. Checked the Chase portal and it's showing availability at some values with half board. So, does this basically mean if we book 2 nights, we'd have the QS dining plan for those 2 nights? Might be able to use that as a bargaining chip for convincing him.

I'm trying to squeeze out as much use of our APs as we can. We got them in June when we stayed at POR. We have a trip coming up the first week in October and I'm planning another for March/April next year. If we can do this Christmas trip that would be amazing! I've never seen Disney at Christmas time. I know my son would flip!!