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

[Jax1023]

What day did you get toppolinos for? I’m hoping to get that same adr but our trip isn’t very long

Wednesday with a Saturday check in. I didn’t try earlier.

Actually I just went back and looked- available as soon as Monday at this point. So seems like it’s not the hardest to get.

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

Southwest is having a 50% off sale. Must book 6/15-6/17 and travel 9/15-11/31/2021.


https://www.doctorofcredit.com/southwest-50-off-flights-remember-to-rebook/

Thanks for posting this. I tried to use this for our Thanksgiving flights and got an error message that it was outside of the date range. The correct dates are:

Use promotion code SAVE50 from 6/15-6/17 for travel 9/15-11/3/21

 

[tink1970]

Parents with college-age kids... I have twins starting college this fall. Any tips for me credit card-wise. Do you pay the tuition with a credit card? Thanks in advance!

I always pay with CC for DD's tuition. I try to get a card with a high MSR + high rewards and it's worked out well for me. Yes, there is a "convenience fee" and some people don't want to pay for that but I've run the numbers and it's always been worth it. Not only that, but I think it's paid off in the Keeping Amex Happy sense-putting that kind of spend on their cards means I've received some really impressive retention offers this year-from $150 on my biz green to $100 on my no AF BBP to $595 on my biz plat...as well as assisting me earn Platinum Medallion SkyMiles status (which, if one looks at the bloggers is worth anywhere from around $500-$2K).

I encourage you to consider the several different ways you can use cards:
my way (high AF/high MSR) cards
others (smaller cards you wanted anyway),
co-branded hotel cards that reward with FNCs,
trying some office supply store cards to see if they'll work (and ideally if you have the CIC receiving 5X).

There's no wrong way to play this aspect of the game as long as you run your numbers and identify what is important to YOU.

If you have any questions feel free to pm me-I'm about to pay semester 5 (time flies!) and I have out my notes and am running numbers constantly lol.

Also, congrats! Your twins survived high school in these odd times and you must be very proud!

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

Parents with college-age kids... I have twins starting college this fall. Any tips for me credit card-wise. Do you pay the tuition with a credit card? Thanks in advance!

I have paid some of my son's student loans using Gift of College giftcards. I buy them at a local gas station using a card that earns 5%/5xURs (or sometimes 4%) on gas. I get the variable load cards that I can load $500 for a $5.95 fee - so I effectively come out $19 ahead with a 5% card. For a short while last year I had access to a new discover card with double cashback so was making 10% back on the gas quarter.

He doesn't have firstmark as a provider, but I think I have seen them listed as working with Gift of College.

Indirectly, you could use Gift of College if your loan servicer is in their system. There were changes made in recent years that allowed use of 529 plans to pay existing student loans (I think it may be capped at $10K per beneficiary). But if you are lucky enough to live in an area with stores that sell Gift of College gift cards, you could pay for those with an Amex, and then redeem them into a GoC account. They are also available online but the fee is $5.95 for a $200 card so it's a better deal if you can find a variable load up to $500 in a retail store since the fee is the same. And if your state gives you a tax deduction for a 529 contribution, that's even better. There are probably nuances to be considered, depending on the details of your situation, but I'm not well-versed in anything other than a straight-up contribution to a 529 so far.

@GZanta77 and @platamama posted this about Gift of College recently, and I found it interesting. So if you purchased a $500 variable load card at the $5.95 fee, the cost would be $505.95. Looks like Gift of College can be found in my area at most Targets, according to this GoC locator tool https://giftofcollege.com/buy-in-store/

Now, if you use your Target card, one should be able to get 5% off, so = $480.65 for a $500 GoC GC, or a 4% discount.

Looks like you can link a 529 plan to your GoC account and redeem the gift card. Check if your state gives a tax deduction on a 529 contribution. Also, I'm not certain if there is any waiting period for the 529, since it sounds like yours is more of an immediate use.

I haven't tried any of this, so it's all theoretical for me, but I'm going to give it a try. Great recommendation!

 

[Haley R]

Wednesday with a Saturday check in. I didn’t try earlier.

Actually I just went back and looked- available as soon as Monday at this point. So seems like it’s not the hardest to get.

Awesome! That’s my only adr planned for our trip. It’s hard to plan meals like that with an active toddler

 

[Bigmace]

Glad I checked here today! Just rebooked our October flights and saved like 15000 pts.

 

[LynnTH]

Parents with college-age kids... I have twins starting college this fall. Any tips for me credit card-wise. Do you pay the tuition with a credit card? Thanks in advance!

Yes. I do. I plan my bigger SUB's for when Tuition is due. DS just graduated in May. Still have DD for 2 more years. Their college does not charge a fee for MC/Visa. So got DH the Chase Ink Preferred Biz Card with the 100,00 SUB with $15,000 spend (also rented DVC points for next year and that was $5500). So after Tuition/Books will be good on this card. We both had recently MDD the CSP/CSR so have those already.

 

[WVMomof3]

Thanks for posting this. I tried to use this for our Thanksgiving flights and got an error message that it was outside of the date range. The correct dates are:

Use promotion code SAVE50 from 6/15-6/17 for travel 9/15-11/3/21

Oops. So sorry. I knew I should have copied and paste. As I was typing it I was thinking wait, November doesn't even have 31 days and then I just posted anyway. lol I meant to go back and double check that.

 

[georgina]

And I saved 463 SW points on an October flight! Can't really complain, we only used 4909 for some of the other flights. Oops just noticed I did something wrong. Need to check again. Update - saved 12,753 points. Tried to do a change initially, didn't realize I had to cancel them and rebook to get the 50% promo. I'm rusty on my travel discounts!

Got an email from Marriott that I can now get double (40,000!) on Bonvoy support. Don't have anyone to use it on, but nice amount.

 

[platamama]

@GZanta77 and @platamama posted this about Gift of College recently, and I found it interesting. So if you purchased a $500 variable load card at the $5.95 fee, the cost would be $505.95. Looks like Gift of College can be found in my area at most Targets, according to this GoC locator tool https://giftofcollege.com/buy-in-store/

Now, if you use your Target card, one should be able to get 5% off, so = $480.65 for a $500 GoC GC, or a 4% discount.

Looks like you can link a 529 plan to your GoC account and redeem the gift card. Check if your state gives a tax deduction on a 529 contribution. Also, I'm not certain if there is any waiting period for the 529, since it sounds like yours is more of an immediate use.

I haven't tried any of this, so it's all theoretical for me, but I'm going to give it a try. Great recommendation!

I wish Target carried the $500 GoC cards! It looks like Target only carries the $50 and $100 denominations (that's on what it shows on your link, but I have never found any in-store myself), so depending on the fee for those denominations it may or may not be worth it. The best spots are places where you have a bonus category, like @GZanta77 's gas spot or grocery stores, but that's highly regionally variable on what stores are in your area. I even have a Lucky's store nearby and they don't sell any gift cards of any sort at all so it's very YMMV. Back when Babies 'R Us was around, I could pick up $500 cards there and use a 2% or MSR card but they and Toys 'R Us are long gone.

I think @tink1970 makes a great point that there are ancillary benefits to putting spend on certain CC's whether it's for elite status or free nights. You're going to be paying tuition anyway so might as well make the painful more palatable. I will be in those shoes in a year from now, so I have a column in my spreadsheet on colleges for whether or not they allow payment with CCs lol.

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

Oops. So sorry. I knew I should have copied and paste. As I was typing it I was thinking wait, November doesn't even have 31 days and then I just posted anyway. lol I meant to go back and double check that.

Hey, I appreciate the post!!!! I snagged airfare to the Caribbean for around $375 RT or about 19k points, which is half what we were paying with AA.

Thanks for the heads up!

 

[snugglebug]

When I checked SW this morning I was discouraged because I didn't see any savings on points flights, I don't like booking on cash and dealing with travel funds. Totally missed the part about the using the code. I just finished booking myself and the littles a trip to visit my oldest daughter. It's been almost 2 years thanks to Covid, I can not wait to see her!

I'm running low on RR and I don't want to transfer over too many UR because I need those for hotels/car rentals/PYB. My CP is good through this year so I don't want to apply for a SW card quite yet. I have an expense that can help meet an MSR, probably not until August though so I'm a little stuck when it comes to points and getting a new card at the moment.

Now to book hotel and car.

 

[stitchfan18]

We're flying AA for the first time next week on a flight credit. Do we still get checked bags free with DH's AA biz card, or is that only when we pay for the flight with the card?

 

[lsutigers03]

Has anyone seen anything on Chase resuming the ability to transfer UR among household members? I'm about to get the CIU bonus and my P2 the CSP bonus. We're going to Disney and Universal next May and I would love to combine the UR to get our Universal tickets and hotel and take advantage of the 1.25 on the CSP.

 

[iujen94]

Has anyone seen anything on Chase resuming the ability to transfer UR among household members? I'm about to get the CIU bonus and my P2 the CSP bonus. We're going to Disney and Universal next May and I would love to combine the UR to get our Universal tickets and hotel and take advantage of the 1.25 on the CSP.

I haven't, but I was able to call and move URs from my biz card to my personal card earlier this week. Only took a few minutes. (But still much more annoying than just doing it online!!)

 

[KPK02090]

Ugh, I bought some VISA gift cards today and just tried to make a payment on FACTS for school tuition, only to realize they don't take VISA. Weird because my son's school does take VISA through FACTS, but my daughter's says Amex, Discover and MasterCard only. Guess I'm off to Family Dollar tomorrow.

 

[KPK02090]

I sent an SM to chase to close my CIU and had the same experience as some others posted about. I got a call (voicemail) from Chase. I didn't return the call. They called again later in the day, but didn't leave a message. Then the account showed as closed.

 

[lsutigers03]

I haven't, but I was able to call and move URs from my biz card to my personal card earlier this week. Only took a few minutes. (But still much more annoying than just doing it online!!)

That's weird that you had to call. I can move between my personal and business cards online. Just not between my cards and my wife's cards.

 

[lsutigers03]

Ugh, I bought some VISA gift cards today and just tried to make a payment on FACTS for school tuition, only to realize they don't take VISA. Weird because my son's school does take VISA through FACTS, but my daughter's says Amex, Discover and MasterCard only. Guess I'm off to Family Dollar tomorrow.

I hope my son's school takes Visa. I've always paid with my bank account. I was able to add my CIU to FACTS and I assumed it would be accepted. Now I'm a bit worried because without the tuition I won't be able to make the MSR.

 

[elgerber]

That's weird that you had to call. I can move between my personal and business cards online. Just not between my cards and my wife's cards.

Only if you already have the cards you want to transfer between, listed in there. I am going to have to call, because I do not already have my CSP listed as a transfer partner in the combine points page.