I love credit cards so much! v4.0 - 2021 (see first page for add'l details)

[pix13dust]

Hi All,
I have a question about the best way to use my existing points. I don’t want to open anymore cards at this time - due to covid, not sure how stable my job is.
im taking my daughter and her friend to Disney for a HS graduation trip. We’re going 7/6-7/12.
I already booked our flight, I used most of my Southwest points. I have 4500 left.
I have 120,000 Amex Hilton points and 67,000 Citi aa points. We were looking at downtown Disney resorts with my Hilton points. I can do points and cash for those resorts. I was also looking at Citi aa rewards and noticed Swan and Dolphin. 38,000 points a night. I would need to pay cash for most of the Swan and Dolphin stay. Am I missing a better deal? Can I combine points somehow?
thanks for any help!

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

Definitely an opportunity! There are 3 credit card processors, the cheapest is at 1.96%, the other 2 are 1.99. You can do 2 payments with each.

If you are able to be approved for Chase biz cards, you can do Chase Ink Unlimited or Ink Cash, 75k UR for $7500 spend. Or Chase Ink Preferred is 100k UR for $15k spend. They've been giving low CL lately, so that may be an issue. You can support P2 for an extra 20k URs.

The Amex business platinum has a 110k MR for 15k spend offer by support, if you can pull that up. Charges over $5000 get 1.5x MR.

I would do CIU x2 because it's 1.5x anything (but consider the CIC if you can use the 5% categories later on). Plus biz plat x2. $45k MSR - done!

If these don't work for you, can also look at the Hilton biz. $15k spend gets you a free night. The SUB is currently elevated at 150k for $2000 spend, with a $150 credit.

Thanks to @Albort and @wanderlust7 for the suggestions to apply for the Amex biz plats. Here’s how that worked out for DH and I:

Used a DISCHURNERS support link and was able to pull up the 110k offer @wanderlust7 mentioned for DH. Applied as SP, 1-2 years in construction biz. Got the message “Pending Review. To process your application we need some additional information about you, and if applicable, the other business owners of your company. Please call customer care at....”

My DH hates getting on the phone, and to do it for his “business“ is the worst thing I could ask him. So I wrote everything out for him... what “he” put on the app, why he wants to card, blah blah.

In the meantime, I apply for myself, using DH support link incognito and pull up the 110k offer. Less than 1 year in biz, SP, industry type “Other.” I figured if it went pending, I could do recon/verification first and then let him know what questions they ask. Instant approval (yay!) so guess that idea went out the door

So I convince the hubby to call while I’m in the shower (God forbid he should be heard on the phone) and when I get out, he tells me it was completely automated- the automated system recognized his phone number, he popped in the last four of his ssn and instant approval.

Moral of the story: there was a lot of sweating at our house for no good reason. I thought the above details might help others who are nervous nellies as well.

Now I just need another card or two for the other 15k taxes.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Does any know if a Disney World charge towards a vacation package is eligible to redeem Altitude Reserve points via "Real Time Rewards" at the 1.5 multiplier rate ?

I don't know. The eligible categories are airlines, car rentals, lodging and "other travel". Examples listed for other travel are rideshares and cruise lines. There are minimum purchase amounts to be aware of for lodging ($500) and car rentals ($250). I used my bonus on the card toward a hotel purchase that I booked direct from Disney, not a travel package, so I made sure I hit the $500 purchase level to redeem for lodging and I had no issues. I don't know if a vacation package will code as travel-lodging or travel-other? If it codes as entertainment you're sunk but with other issuers entertainment coding from Disney only happens for direct ticket purchases (no package). My best guess (ie pulling this out of thin air!) is it would code as lodging.

Warning- don't purchase more than you can cover with points. If you do the system won't allow you to apply any points to the purchase.

Make sure you've enabled RTR prior to any purchase and that you run through your RTR settings to make sure you enable all the right things: go to rewards portal > Card Benefits > Edit RTR settings > set your settings. I made sure to only select travel categories so I always get 1.5x redemption and my minimum redemption is set at $10.

Right now imho there is a bit of a safety net with Disney and the RTR game... since Disney has a generous refundability policy right now if your charge doesn't trigger RTR you could cancel your Disney trip, get a refund and rebook (as long as there is still availability of course).

 

[KPK02090]

https://www.wsj.com/articles/he-got...he-irs-said-it-was-taxable-income-11615125601
I hope the link works. It’s to a Wall Street Journal article about a guy who had over $300,000 in credit card rewards by buying gift cards and converting to money orders. The IRS now says he owes taxes on it!

 

[havaneselover]

https://www.wsj.com/articles/he-got...he-irs-said-it-was-taxable-income-11615125601
I hope the link works. It’s to a Wall Street Journal article about a guy who had over $300,000 in credit card rewards by buying gift cards and converting to money orders. The IRS now says he owes taxes on it!

Most of it's behind a paywall.

 

[KPK02090]

Most of it's behind a paywall.

How about this link?
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.th...racking-up-6-4-million-in-credit-card-charges

 

[havaneselover]

How about this link?
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.th...racking-up-6-4-million-in-credit-card-charges

Yes, that works.

Here's a sentence that makes me feel okay: The judge also ruled rewards earned on purchases of money orders or reloading debit cards are taxable.

So I earn rewards buying visa gift cards and use those to buy money orders. I don't earn rewards purchasing money orders or reloading debit cards.

But now I feel like a total slacker!

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

A few questions about the SW free change window (when/if it becomes available):
1. Allows 30 days to shift flight? Or 14?
2. Will it apply only to exact same airports or does it ever apply to nearby airports?
3. I’ve seen varying dps that multiple changes are allowed, while others say just one change.

I am considering pre-booking something for May with points and credits for taxes.

 

[Shannon G]

A couple of questions for all of you experts...

1. I have almost met the minimum spend for my AmEx Platinum. Once I do, how long do the points take to post to my account?

2. Looking to get DD a flight to Phoenix in May, likely from PVD (we are in CT and can easily use BDL or PVD, but PVD is cheaper for her dates & she also has a friend from MA flying with her, and PVD is more convenient for her than BDL). I have about 139,000 Chase URs, and have been saving them to use towards a trip with DD to Italy and Greece in 2022 (the postponed version of her 2020 graduation trip). With the 1.25 redemption rate for travel, I could book her round trip flight for between 25k - 26k URs. Or, once my AmEx MRs post, I could book the same flights for about 31k MRs. The flights we are looking at are on AA, and points doesn't transfer from either Chase or AmEx. I'm thinking booking through Chase travel is the way to go, with the bonus redemption value right now - am I right? (Normally I would use some of the SW points I have, but the flight times are less ideal, and we will likely use the SW points for other family travel this summer anyway).

Oh, and even if I book the flight through Chase or AmEx, I think I can still log into the airline later to add baggage, right? That way I could make AA my airline for my $200 AmEx credit and cover the baggage fees for DD & her friend.

 

[havaneselover]

A couple of questions for all of you experts...

1. I have almost met the minimum spend for my AmEx Platinum. Once I do, how long do the points take to post to my account?

2. Looking to get DD a flight to Phoenix in May, likely from PVD (we are in CT and can easily use BDL or PVD, but PVD is cheaper for her dates & she also has a friend from MA flying with her, and PVD is more convenient for her than BDL). I have about 139,000 Chase URs, and have been saving them to use towards a trip with DD to Italy and Greece in 2022 (the postponed version of her 2020 graduation trip). With the 1.25 redemption rate for travel, I could book her round trip flight for between 25k - 26k URs. Or, once my AmEx MRs post, I could book the same flights for about 31k MRs. The flights we are looking at are on AA, and points doesn't transfer from either Chase or AmEx. I'm thinking booking through Chase travel is the way to go, with the bonus redemption value right now - am I right? (Normally I would use some of the SW points I have, but the flight times are less ideal, and we will likely use the SW points for other family travel this summer anyway).

Oh, and even if I book the flight through Chase or AmEx, I think I can still log into the airline later to add baggage, right? That way I could make AA my airline for my $200 AmEx credit and cover the baggage fees for DD & her friend.

Took 13 days on my business platinum (posted in the last 30 days).

 

[afan]

Yes, that works.

Here's a sentence that makes me feel okay: The judge also ruled rewards earned on purchases of money orders or reloading debit cards are taxable.

So I earn rewards buying visa gift cards and use those to buy money orders. I don't earn rewards purchasing money orders or reloading debit cards.

But now I feel like a total slacker!

This is the same story that came out a couple weeks ago, it was done around 2013-14 when it was all much easier to to. Guess it was a slow news day for WSJ to finally pick it up.

 

[havaneselover]

This is the same story that came out a couple weeks ago, it was done around 2013-14 when it was all much easier to to. Guess it was a slow news day for WSJ to finally pick it up.

The memo came out 2/23/21 so I guess this is an update.

 

[wanderlust7]

A couple of questions for all of you experts...

1. I have almost met the minimum spend for my AmEx Platinum. Once I do, how long do the points take to post to my account?

2. Looking to get DD a flight to Phoenix in May, likely from PVD (we are in CT and can easily use BDL or PVD, but PVD is cheaper for her dates & she also has a friend from MA flying with her, and PVD is more convenient for her than BDL). I have about 139,000 Chase URs, and have been saving them to use towards a trip with DD to Italy and Greece in 2022 (the postponed version of her 2020 graduation trip). With the 1.25 redemption rate for travel, I could book her round trip flight for between 25k - 26k URs. Or, once my AmEx MRs post, I could book the same flights for about 31k MRs. The flights we are looking at are on AA, and points doesn't transfer from either Chase or AmEx. I'm thinking booking through Chase travel is the way to go, with the bonus redemption value right now - am I right? (Normally I would use some of the SW points I have, but the flight times are less ideal, and we will likely use the SW points for other family travel this summer anyway).

Oh, and even if I book the flight through Chase or AmEx, I think I can still log into the airline later to add baggage, right? That way I could make AA my airline for my $200 AmEx credit and cover the baggage fees for DD & her friend.

I met MSR last week and the points posted the day after the charge posted. So I think things are back to normal now. But if it's your first MR earning card, it might take longer.

 

[smallsy]

I noticed the SW plus currently has a 30K + CP for a 5K spend. No MDD required... Is this a normal "deal?" I normally love the idea of having a bucket load of points to go with the CP, but I also love the idea of not having to get 2 cards to get the CP.

 

[Judique]

This is the same story that came out a couple weeks ago, it was done around 2013-14 when it was all much easier to to. Guess it was a slow news day for WSJ to finally pick it up.

When they mentioned the free shipping on the $1 coins, I figured it was an old article getting rehashed.

I may be wrong but I don't think that's a feasible option anymore.

It's still interesting to think that someone could have pulled as much as 300k from the hobby.

 

[wanderlust7]

A few questions about the SW free change window (when/if it becomes available):
1. Allows 30 days to shift flight? Or 14?
2. Will it apply only to exact same airports or does it ever apply to nearby airports?
3. I’ve seen varying dps that multiple changes are allowed, while others say just one change.

I am considering pre-booking something for May with points and credits for taxes.

It does apply to nearby airports if SW considers them the same metro area. Near me, SFO, SJC, OAK count as the same, but Sacramento doesn't. I think all the LA area airports counted the same too, but Palm Springs doesn't.

You can make multiple changes and I think it's 30 days now.

 

[havaneselover]

When they mentioned the free shipping on the $1 coins, I figured it was an old article getting rehashed.

I may be wrong but I don't think that's a feasible option anymore.

It's still interesting to think that someone could have pulled as much as 300k from the hobby.

He did $6 million of spend in 2 years I think. That’s like $8k/day. That would stress me out. But still seems like he did well even after paying his taxes. And how did he liquidate that much in MOs?

 

[becauseimnew]

I noticed the SW plus currently has a 30K + CP for a 5K spend. No MDD required... Is this a normal "deal?" I normally love the idea of having a bucket load of points to go with the CP, but I also love the idea of not having to get 2 cards to get the CP.

The CP with that SUB ends 2/28/22, so you'll have it for less than a year.

 

[snugglebug]

Does anyone have TMobile service? Are you happy with it? DH wants to move our new iPhones from Boostmobile to TMobile.

We've been using them for 2+ years and we're happy with them. My son said he has problems on base sometimes, I've told him to DM them on Twitter. I did go through a period where my data would just stop, using Twitter I worked with them to reset both my phone and something on their end and I've been fine ever since.

 

[afan]

He did $6 million of spend in 2 years I think. That’s like $8k/day. That would stress me out. But still seems like he did well even after paying his taxes. And how did he liquidate that much in MOs?

Paid his cards I believe. It was a totally different time in what could be done.