I love credit cards so much!

[CyndiLouWho]

The two times I've done it there was no fee. I think the yearly limit for point transfer is 50K, which is what I did this year (DH to me) in January. But in the past there wasn't a limit if you were doing it to redeem a travel package. A few years ago, you could get 140K points for a Ritz-Carlton Visa so DH and I each signed up for it and combined our points for one travel package.

Good to know. Was going to transfer my mom's Starpoints to me but it said the fee was $10. (Was going to transfer Starpoints to Marriott to my Marriott to Starpoints) plus my mom has 28 k Starpoints which would be more than 50k Marriott points. Instead, I changed her address to mine for the next few months then can transfer for free via SPG

 

[calypso726]

Thank you to all three of you!

I'm not as familiar with AmEx's travel and awards program as Chase's. I'm off to do some reading about them.

You are welcome. Keep in mind Amex Travel is a completely different animal than using SPG points transferred to miles. Amex Travel using Amex Membership Rewards points is a separate program than using Amex SPG points.

Starpoints have been among the 'king of currencies' for many years. They have consistently been one of the best valuations available over time in an ever changing game. All good things eventually come to an end, and I do see devaluation on the horizon once the details of the merger between SPG and Marriott are finalized- so now might be a good time to jump on the bandwagon. I am not so sure I would even recommend waiting until the next time the sign up bonus goes back up (usually 25k- but has been going up to historic 35k offers recently), as we are (possibly) nearing the end of when the SPG cards will be available. If you see a use for the points- it might be wise to get aboard now, as none of us has a 'crystal ball' with the ability to know if/when the cards are going to disappear.

Yup, I agree too. That is exactly why I didn't suggest waiting for a higher bonus offer. This is also the reason we blew such a huge wad of SPG points on the Singapore Suites. I have no idea what may happen to the card and program thank to the merger. So I had no problem going all in for an aspirational redemption like SQ suites class.

Is there any way to change a departure flight on American that’s a basic economy ticket?

I bought my ticket planning a solo weekend at WDW next month to see Christmas stuff. Dh then decided he wants to go too, which is great, but he wants to stay an extra day.

I’ve done some googling but can’t come up with much.

According to the AA website no flight changes or refunds https://www.aa.com/i18n/travel-info/experience/seats/basic-economy.jsp

 

[AmyAnne]

I'm curious if anyone here is thinking about the Ally credit card. Only a $100 sign-up bonus but no annual fee. Unlimited 2% back on groceries and gas, pus a 10% bonus for depositing the cash reward in an Ally account.

 

[brownhaired_girl]

Well, I applied for the Marriott card this morning when I got off work. I got the 30 day notice. Then this evening I received a call from Chase, answered a few questions and was approved. The card is on its way and already shows up in my account.

 

[Happy_2_B]

Yup, I agree too. That is exactly why I didn't suggest waiting for a higher bonus offer. This is also the reason we blew such a huge wad of SPG points on the Singapore Suites. I have no idea what may happen to the card and program thank to the merger. So I had no problem going all in for an aspirational redemption like SQ suites class

We live pretty close to WDW, and burned a lot of SPG points in Hawaii earlier this year- still sitting on a boatload, though- so booked a couple of upcoming stays at Swolphin for 5 nights to get the free night redemption- then will 'probably' move the rest into miles and/or transfer them into Marriott over the next couple of months to put towards their package deal- still haven't decided...

Hard to know what is going to happen- just don't want to be 'that guy' who waits until the merger is complete and the points get devalued. I think a big unknown is who is going to wind up with the co-branding rights- and my guess is that is a big part of the delay in finalizing the merger. I personally hope it is AmEx, as we might not see a devaluation in that scenario. If Chase winds up as the issuer, odds are a bit higher that a devaluation will occur- plus we will all (possibly) be stuck not being able to get the newly released cards (if there are new cards) since they could fall under 5/24.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

For those of you who have a Chase Reserve card. Don't forget about the price protection feature of this card. Which means if you see a Black Friday deal advertised now that will be on sale on Black Friday, you can get the item now while it is in stock. Oh course you will be paying the current price of the item. Then get the ad on Black Friday showing the discounted price scan it and fill out the Chase price protection claim form and submit everything online using the Price Protection link.
From experience it takes Chase 10 days to mail a refund check for the price difference between the price you paid and the discounted BF price. I have done this in the past for an item that went on sale not once but twice during the 90 days after I purchased the item. I got two refund check and the process of submitting the form online was easy.

So don't forget that if an item goes on sale up to 90 days after you purchased it, you qualify for a refund of the difference.

 

[Alexle2007]

I was excited when I was reading an article about the Hyatt card and their 2 free nights to any Hyatt offer. It looks like the current offer though is for 40k points instead and doubled the needed spend to $2k. Is this still a good offer or should I hold out? Will the 40k still get me say to 2 nights at the Park Hyatt Paris-Vendome or the Hyatt Regency in Maui?

 

[Alexle2007]

For those of you who have a Chase Reserve card. Don't forget about the price protection feature of this card. Which means if you see a Black Friday deal advertised now that will be on sale on Black Friday, you can get the item now while it is in stock. Oh course you will be paying the current price of the item. Then get the ad on Black Friday showing the discounted price scan it and fill out the Chase price protection claim form and submit everything online using the Price Protection link.
From experience it takes Chase 10 days to mail a refund check for the price difference between the price you paid and the discounted BF price. I have done this in the past for an item that went on sale not once but twice during the 90 days after I purchased the item. I got two refund check and the process of submitting the form online was easy.

So don't forget that if an item goes on sale up to 90 days after you purchased it, you qualify for a refund of the difference.

Does it matter is the ad says like limited to 10 in store? I am thinking of getting DS10 wireless Beats for Christmas but it might be nice to get them now and not fight BF crowds, although I probably wouldn't anyhow since we are doing a mini vacation.

 

[kmc8826]

I was excited when I was reading an article about the Hyatt card and their 2 free nights to any Hyatt offer. It looks like the current offer though is for 40k points instead and doubled the needed spend to $2k. Is this still a good offer or should I hold out? Will the 40k still get me say to 2 nights at the Park Hyatt Paris-Vendome or the Hyatt Regency in Maui?

I think it is an ok offer. Not a limited time bonus offer though. I don't know about Paris but the Maui was 20,000 points a night for this February when we booked.

 

[GPC0321]

I was excited when I was reading an article about the Hyatt card and their 2 free nights to any Hyatt offer. It looks like the current offer though is for 40k points instead and doubled the needed spend to $2k. Is this still a good offer or should I hold out? Will the 40k still get me say to 2 nights at the Park Hyatt Paris-Vendome or the Hyatt Regency in Maui?

I think the Hyatt card is one of the best hotel cards available. The points are very valuable, and for $75 annual fee you get a free anniversary stay in any hotel through category 4.
A quick Google search showed the Regency in Maui at 20k points per night, so you could definitely do that. The Park Hyatt Paris Vendome is 30k points per night, so you wouldn't be able to do two nights there.
I'm researching some of the all-inclusive Ziva and Zilara resorts. They're pretty good deals.
A lot of the big hotels in Vegas are Hyatts too (Bellagio, MGM, etc)

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Does it matter is the ad says like limited to 10 in store? I am thinking of getting DS10 wireless Beats for Christmas but it might be nice to get them now and not fight BF crowds, although I probably wouldn't anyhow since we are doing a mini vacation.

No it does not matter what the ad says. As long as they have the item available now to purchase I would get it pronto and then submit the form on BF to CHase. All Chase cares about is what the advertised sale price is. Not that they only have 10 to sell.

 

[Alexle2007]

No it does not matter what the ad says. As long as they have the item available now to purchase I would get it pronto and then submit the form on BF to CHase. All Chase cares about is what the advertised sale price is. Not that they only have 10 to sell.

Awesome! Now to check out the ads!

 

[hsmamato2]

Just when I get used to navigating the UR site for hotels, they change it.

How?

 

[amalone1013]

How?

The filter options. You can no longer filter for hotels by a certain attraction or landmark. I was using it to look at DS hotels because not all of those have Disney in the hotel name. And I was planning on using it for some other trips, which makes it hard for the same reason.

 

[JC0712]

I have a shopping portal question. Do any of the major cards, hotels, or airlines have points for shopping at Amazon through their portal. I looked at UR, AA, UA, Delta, SW, Marriott, and IGH. The only airline I found was JetBlue at 3 points per dollar. Since I live in a small town in Louisiana JetBlue is not a very useful airline for me. They do have limited service out of New Orleans so I might someday get some use out of the points. But, if anyone knows of a better portal for shopping at Amazon please let me know. Thanks.

 

[Lain]

I have a shopping portal question. Do any of the major cards, hotels, or airlines have points for shopping at Amazon through their portal. I looked at UR, AA, UA, Delta, SW, Marriott, and IGH. The only airline I found was JetBlue at 3 points per dollar. Since I live in a small town in Louisiana JetBlue is not a very useful airline for me. They do have limited service out of New Orleans so I might someday get some use out of the points. But, if anyone knows of a better portal for shopping at Amazon please let me know. Thanks.

As far as shopping portals, I believe JetBlue is the only one to offer points for shopping at Amazon. Marriott’s MORE app briefly offered points for shopping at Amazon, but Amazon was taken down as a merchant within the first few days and there’s no word when or if it’ll return.

Another way to earn miles and points on Amazon purchases is to use your choice of credit card to buy Amazon gift cards that you can load to your Amazon gift card wallet. The MileagePlus X (MPX) app earns you 0.5 MileagePlus miles per $1 spent on Amazon egift cards, plus a 25% mileage bonus if you have a MileagePlus credit card added to your MPX account (you don’t have to put the actual purchase on it), plus whatever miles or points you’d earn on the credit card you use to pay. The Gyft app sells Amazon egift cards, which I believe still earns 3x Ultimate Rewards points per $1 using Chase Ink Preferred and 5x UR when using Ink Cash or Plus through PayPal checkout. The Swytch app also sells Amazon egift cards, and I believe codes similarly to Gyft when using Ink cards and paying through PayPal. Then you can also buy physical Amazon gift cards from grocery stores using a credit card with a high bonus grocery category like the Amex Blue Cash Preferred (6% cash back), or from office supplies stores with the Ink Plus or Cash (5x UR).

ETA: I stack earning rewards from buying Amazon gift cards with a credit card and MPX with the JetBlue rewards for shopping through their partners portal.

 

[platamama]

I'm curious if anyone here is thinking about the Ally credit card. Only a $100 sign-up bonus but no annual fee. Unlimited 2% back on groceries and gas, pus a 10% bonus for depositing the cash reward in an Ally account.

I'm not excited about that card. As a comparison, Bank of America Cash Rewards credit card is no annual fee, 2% at groceries and wholesale clubs, 3% on gas, 1% everywhere else,
has a $150 sign up bonus for $500 spend in 90 days and a 10% bonus if you redeem back into a BoA checking/savings account. Yes, the bonus categories are capped at $2500/qtr so that is a difference. Another difference is if you qualify for their tiered Preferred Rewards program, where you can get an additional 25%-75% bonus with enough assets at BoA or Merrill Lynch.

That said, I think Ally has a better reputation for customer service than BoA, although I've not had any problems with either of them.

 

[amalone1013]

If I use Shop through Chase, do I have to pay with my Chase card?

 

[JC0712]

As far as shopping portals, I believe JetBlue is the only one to offer points for shopping at Amazon. Marriott’s MORE app briefly offered points for shopping at Amazon, but Amazon was taken down as a merchant within the first few days and there’s no word when or if it’ll return.

Another way to earn miles and points on Amazon purchases is to use your choice of credit card to buy Amazon gift cards that you can load to your Amazon gift card wallet. The MileagePlus X (MPX) app earns you 0.5 MileagePlus miles per $1 spent on Amazon egift cards, plus a 25% mileage bonus if you have a MileagePlus credit card added to your MPX account (you don’t have to put the actual purchase on it), plus whatever miles or points you’d earn on the credit card you use to pay. The Gyft app sells Amazon egift cards, which I believe still earns 3x Ultimate Rewards points per $1 using Chase Ink Preferred and 5x UR when using Ink Cash or Plus through PayPal checkout. The Swytch app also sells Amazon egift cards, and I believe codes similarly to Gyft when using Ink cards and paying through PayPal. Then you can also buy physical Amazon gift cards from grocery stores using a credit card with a high bonus grocery category like the Amex Blue Cash Preferred (6% cash back), or from office supplies stores with the Ink Plus or Cash (5x UR).

ETA: I stack earning rewards from buying Amazon gift cards with a credit card and MPX with the JetBlue rewards for shopping through their partners portal.

Thank you Lain. I have a CIP, so I would be able to get the 3x UR and UA has connecting flights out of my small regional airport. I also like that I can purchase the e gift cards when I need them rather than having to plan all purchases ahead of time to buy physical gift cards. I don't have an Ink Cash or Amex, but I can get them at Target 5% off with my red card. I think I may prefer the flexibility of buying them through MPX. Very useful information.

 

[peel]

Does it matter is the ad says like limited to 10 in store? I am thinking of getting DS10 wireless Beats for Christmas but it might be nice to get them now and not fight BF crowds, although I probably wouldn't anyhow since we are doing a mini vacation.

No it does not matter what the ad says. As long as they have the item available now to purchase I would get it pronto and then submit the form on BF to CHase. All Chase cares about is what the advertised sale price is. Not that they only have 10 to sell.

I don't believe this is correct. Per the Chase page on price protection:

Advertisements Not Covered

• Advertisements for flea markets, fire sales, limited quantity promotions, seasonal sales or auctions

I don't know how strict they'll be on that rule, but if it's a high ticket item I probably wouldn't take the chance. YMMV.