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

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I'm thinking of applying for an AmEx card now, because I'm about to cancel 2 cards in the next few days and suspect that I might end up in pop-up territory after that. I have or have had a lot of the AmEx cards. I had thought my next card would be a fancy Delta card, for the lounge access, after I cancel my Plat, but I'm probably not flying enough in the next year to make the AF worth it.

I could get the no-AF Delta card, but it's only 10,000 bonus miles. The other options seem to be the Hilton Surpass (130,000 bonus points after $2,000 spend and a $95 AF) or the Marriott business card ($125 AF; 75,000 bonus points after $3,000 spend).

Any recommendations?
 
AmyAnne said:
I'm thinking of applying for an AmEx card now, because I'm about to cancel 2 cards in the next few days and suspect that I might end up in pop-up territory after that. I have or have had a lot of the AmEx cards. I had thought my next card would be a fancy Delta card, for the lounge access, after I cancel my Plat, but I'm probably not flying enough in the next year to make the AF worth it.

I could get the no-AF Delta card, but it's only 10,000 bonus miles. The other options seem to be the Hilton Surpass (130,000 bonus points after $2,000 spend and a $95 AF) or the Marriott business card ($125 AF; 75,000 bonus points after $3,000 spend).

Any recommendations?
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You might be able to pull up the 150k for $2000 spend offer on the Surpass, though I'm not sure if it's available via support. There's an additional 50k for total $10k spend. That's a nice offer if you plan to do the $15k spend for an FNC. I got the card for DH hoping to eventually get an upgrade bonus offer to the Aspire. Though I'm not sure how likely that is if he holds an Aspire. Might have to downgrade it eventually.

The Marriott Biz has a 100k offer that comes and goes. Current offer is 75k plus $150 statement credit. So depends if you prefer 25k or $125. They had the 100k with the $125 at one point too, though I don't know how likely that is to come back.
 
AmyAnne said:
I'm thinking of applying for an AmEx card now, because I'm about to cancel 2 cards in the next few days and suspect that I might end up in pop-up territory after that. I have or have had a lot of the AmEx cards. I had thought my next card would be a fancy Delta card, for the lounge access, after I cancel my Plat, but I'm probably not flying enough in the next year to make the AF worth it.

I could get the no-AF Delta card, but it's only 10,000 bonus miles. The other options seem to be the Hilton Surpass (130,000 bonus points after $2,000 spend and a $95 AF) or the Marriott business card ($125 AF; 75,000 bonus points after $3,000 spend).

Any recommendations?
Click to expand...

Amex is very lenient when it comes to business cards. The Hilton business card is the same offer as the Surpass, same fee, but won't add to 5/24. The Delta offers aren't elevated right now, so I would wait until they are before considering those products.
 
LynnTH said:
We went on the Carnival Mardi Gras on August 7th. They started the Masking indoors on that cruise but the testing before did not start until the week after. We were a little concerned with all the procedures but everything was great. We had to wear masks getting on and off the ship and indoors when going into dining or in elevators or around crowds. It was not bad at all. Then of course you had to follow the procedures of whatever ports you were at. We did mostly beach days so once we got where we were going - masks were off. I see they now have some Rapid In Home Testing you can do and it is like $70 for 2 tests. There are certain ones that you can use and are listed, but this makes it a lot easier.

Since we have been back (and spent some time in the casino) have been getting casino offers every day. Latest one yesterday is for cruises through end of December. Inside Cabins from $25 per person. Trying to see if I can get that to work out and hopefully booking another one. Any particular questions, let me know.
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Thanks for your experience…. very helpful! I guess my two questions are, 1) did it feel like reduced capacity? Would love to have a half empty cruise! And 2) what was the buffet situation like? To be honest, that’s really the only reason DH likes cruising 🤣🤣 If it’s nonexistent now, I’m gonna have to make something up to get him to board haha.
 


Anyone do the Barclay's AA business card with the 80k offer? DH is in the market for a new business card and we could use some AA miles. He had this card over 2 years ago bu canceled. Will that be a problem?
 
If P2 is an AU on my surpass, can I open one for him to get bonus?
Does Hilton let you transfer points? I'm Diamond and would love that

I would upgrade to aspire if a good deal came along

thanks
 
Crazed4DisneyinSC said:
Curious if anyone has been on lately, or is booked for a cruise soon? If you've been on one since cruising began again, I'd love to know your experience! We are booked for January, and I'm getting a little concerned about it now with everything going on.

The rate is unfortunately non-refundable, although it's my understanding that if you test positive you will get credit to use for another cruise. Also, I have a 10% Carnival offer on my CSP, so I was thinking to pay off the rest of the cruise a month early to get $50 back.
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I have not been on one but I keep an eye on the DCL forum and I am ready to go back. I think the key is about expectations. If you go in expecting it to be “normal”, you’re going to be disappointed. If you go in knowing it will be different but just happy to be cruising and go with the flow, it can be a good experience, especially with the lower crowds. I tried to talk my wife into booking one for next month but our house remodel is finally wrapping up and we are moving back in the weekend after I wanted to cruise. She said too much to get ready for.

We do have a cruise booked but not until July. We were supposed to go this year on a DCL Greek Isles cruise for my DD’s high school graduation present, but it got pushed out a year.

Hope it works out for you!
 


punkin said:
Anyone do the Barclay's AA business card with the 80k offer? DH is in the market for a new business card and we could use some AA miles. He had this card over 2 years ago bu canceled. Will that be a problem?
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I would not recommend any Barclays card. If you google their customer service, you'll see they are a 1 star card. I had one of their AA cards that was pitched on an AA flight. I cancelled it when I was not refunded for a hotel I'd paid for in Barcelona in May of 2020. The hotel (and Barcelona in general) was physically closed due to Covid 19. But, they wouldn't refund me. My sad tale continues even though my card is closed (and maybe because my card is closed). I actually paid off the 2020 EBTA with my Barclays card to meet the spend needed for the AA points. Two years later, and several cancelled cruises, I finally gave up the cruise and requested a refund. And it's going to the canceled Barclays. And no one can find the money, and there is no customer service and I've been waiting over a week for a "supervisor" to call me back.
Oh, and I want to add, that we were doing the EBTA with our very good friends who booked the same hotel for the came days in Barcelona on a Citi card. They were refunded due to the hotel being physically closed.
 
punkin said:
Anyone do the Barclay's AA business card with the 80k offer? DH is in the market for a new business card and we could use some AA miles. He had this card over 2 years ago bu canceled. Will that be a problem?
Click to expand...
It says that the offer is only available to new card members, which is why I haven’t applied. We need more AA miles but I’m afraid to get rejected because I’ve had the card before.
The personal version has different language, something about not available if you’ve had the card in the last 24 months. I’ve kept the personal card because they’ve had good bonus promotions. P2 will apply after he gets another Chase biz card.
Birdie dog said:
I would not recommend any Barclays card. If you google their customer service, you'll see they are a 1 star card. I had one of their AA cards that was pitched on an AA flight. I cancelled it when I was not refunded for a hotel I'd paid for in Barcelona in May of 2020. The hotel (and Barcelona in general) was physically closed due to Covid 19. But, they wouldn't refund me. My sad tale continues even though my card is closed (and maybe because my card is closed). I actually paid off the 2020 EBTA with my Barclays card to meet the spend needed for the AA points. Two years later, and several cancelled cruises, I finally gave up the cruise and requested a refund. And it's going to the canceled Barclays. And no one can find the money, and there is no customer service and I've been waiting over a week for a "supervisor" to call me back.
Oh, and I want to add, that we were doing the EBTA with our very good friends who booked the same hotel for the came days in Barcelona on a Citi card. They were refunded due to the hotel being physically closed.
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After all this crazy travel stuff going on, I’ve decided that from now on we will only put travel reservations on our CSR.
 
Anybody else get the 1.75% fee offer on Plastiq? I’m trying to figure out how I might use this best. Been a while since I paid anything through them so trying to remember. Maybe try some of the staples and OM/OD VGC’s and MCGC’s from the last few weeks’ deals that I haven’t done anything with yet.

ETA: can I still use those as debit and only pay 1%? And could I have done that all along? I’ve been so focused on tuition payments I’ve lost track of this knowledge I used to have lol
 
Limes96 said:
Anybody else get the 1.75% fee offer on Plastiq? I’m trying to figure out how I might use this best. Been a while since I paid anything through them so trying to remember. Maybe try some of the staples and OM/OD VGC’s and MCGC’s from the last few weeks’ deals that I haven’t done anything with yet.

ETA: can I still use those as debit and only pay 1%? And could I have done that all along? I’ve been so focused on tuition payments I’ve lost track of this knowledge I used to have lol
Click to expand...
Answer is no on the gc’s. Looks like this deal won’t help me out much like I’d hoped. Maybe just use it for next month’s HELOC payment with my CIU. Doesn’t make sense for any of my other bills. Could’ve used it two weeks ago for car insurance.
 
Limes96 said:
Anybody else get the 1.75% fee offer on Plastiq? I’m trying to figure out how I might use this best. Been a while since I paid anything through them so trying to remember. Maybe try some of the staples and OM/OD VGC’s and MCGC’s from the last few weeks’ deals that I haven’t done anything with yet.

ETA: can I still use those as debit and only pay 1%? And could I have done that all along? I’ve been so focused on tuition payments I’ve lost track of this knowledge I used to have lol
Click to expand...
Was this a targeted email offer?
 
Well I had fun this morning, or not. I've got about $13k in credit card balances to pay this month (OUCH). Part of that is the VCG I have laying around, so today's fun was getting rid of those.

I started off to FD. I chose one that was close to some other ones. I had $300 in VGC from Staples (from awhile back) and $800 in Dine Everywhere VGC from OD/OM. I went into FD did $100 (on a Staples VGC). Then thought, oh I'll do another $400 ($200 Staples VGC/ $200 OD/OM). Well the card I swiped first was the DE card and it was declined. I was so flustered I didn't even THINK to do the other Staples card for $200. So I drove away and headed back towards home, to hit a WM to try the DE cards. I was able to do $400 in DE cards at WM, so I figured I'd go past the other FD on my way home. This is the one that is ALWAYS at it's max loads when I get there, but it was early, so I was hopeful. I get there and it's closed! UGH. So I headed to another WM to do the other $400 in DE cards. And then thought, you know, I'll try the Staples VGC in a checkout lane or at electronics. No one was at Electronics, so I grabbed the 2 items I needed and headed to a checkout lane. The poor girl there could NOT get the transaction to run. She went and asked someone came back and tried, still didn't work. Then a person came over and tried, and they decided it was her terminal. So the lady took me to another lane. I tried for $99 and it worked!!! So I was able to "clear" $999 of the $1100 I needed to do today. I'll call it a win for now. And it seems I can go back to $99 loads on the Staples VGC, if I can ever find those again. Though after all the fun it's been lately, I think I'm only buying them when I know I'm going to be around a lot of easy load places, LOL.

becauseimnew said:
It says that the offer is only available to new card members, which is why I haven’t applied. We need more AA miles but I’m afraid to get rejected because I’ve had the card before.
The personal version has different language, something about not available if you’ve had the card in the last 24 months. I’ve kept the personal card because they’ve had good bonus promotions. P2 will apply after he gets another Chase biz card.

After all this crazy travel stuff going on, I’ve decided that from now on we will only put travel reservations on our CSR.
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Barclay is a nightmare at times. It took 7 attempts to get my Biz AA card finally approved. I have both, but I think I'm going to close the personal one this year and maybe try to churn it. DP's on FT seem mixed on whether you can churn the card and how long you have to wait. I waiver back and forth on which card I want to keep vs close and maybe churn. I feel like since the Biz was so much harder to keep, that's the one I want to keep. I go back and forth, LOL. But I love having AA miles for trips to NC, so I am always looking to add to them!
 
Back from a short trip to Michigan. Used an IHG FNC in Frankenmuth and URs at a hotel in Traverse City. OOP for food and gas and Christmas ornaments.

Highlight was Sleeping Bear Dunes. I’ll probably go back again, thinking next time later in the fall to catch the leaves changing. In terms of saving money, used my annual NPS pass to get in.

On Barclays Aviator Biz, both DH and I did the older offer 65k miles for 1k spend + 10k miles for an e‘ee purchase. I don’t know if the language was similar to the current offer for a new card holder. Both of us had the card closed 2 years ago. The switch over on the website to combine personal and Biz messed us up a bit. That happened after we received our cards. I had to reactivate the cards to get them to work. Both e’ee bonus points posted on the first statement. Waiting on second statement for the remaining bonus points.
 
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