I love credit cards so much!

[eeyoresmom]

I'm questioning my Chase strategy now. DH has the CSR which we will keep. My plan is to pc my CSP to a Freedom before the AF hits. I did some reading but it's not clear. Do the Freedom cards earn UR's and will I be able to transfer my UR's to DH's CSR??? On another note, I have to start planning this DL trip! It's been a crazy (good) summer and once I made my hotel reservations I relaxed a bit too much!

 

[calypso726]

I'm questioning my Chase strategy now. DH has the CSR which we will keep. My plan is to pc my CSP to a Freedom before the AF hits. I did some reading but it's not clear. Do the Freedom cards earn UR's and will I be able to transfer my UR's to DH's CSR??? On another note, I have to start planning this DL trip! It's been a crazy (good) summer and once I made my hotel reservations I relaxed a bit too much!

For the moment, yes. There has been some speculation on whether or not chase will continue to allow freedom and CFU transfers to CSR. Our CPC banker also mentioned this idea was being floated around. I said that would be the fastest way to get me to switch all of my spending to Amex.

You can transfer your UR points to another person in your household. DH and I transfer all the time.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

What is the best way to use points toward a (non-DCL) cruise?

My mom really wants to go on a cruise together as a family. I am definitely open to it, but obviously would like to use points towards it if possible, or at least get a good % cash back. I briefly looked at the cruise section of the UR portal but it seems like you have to call to really see what they have available. We'd be looking to sail out of NYC to the Caribbean next July or August, which somewhat limits our options. I'm considering Royal Caribbean, Carnival, or Norwegian but am open to suggestions. DW & I have never been on a cruise; my mom has been once on RCI & enjoyed it but she's open to other lines. Our kids will be 5 & 9 if we go next summer so a good kids club/activities is a must.

You can book pretty much any cruise through UR, you just have to call in. I did my research for cruises on the cruise line website to determine ports/price/dates and then I called into Chase to book it with UR points. They match the current pricing and promotions from the cruise line, including onboard credits, elite status discounts, etc. Something to keep in mind is that only let you apply UR points once, when you first make the reservation. Anything remaining on the balance must be paid via credit card.

I booked a cruise leaving out of Venice in October 2018 on Royal Caribbean. It cost $2000 for a junior suite (amazing deal) and I paid $800 of it with Chase UR points (roughly 53,000 points). The other $1200 will be put on my CSR closer to the due date.

As far as cruise lines, I prefer Royal Caribbean. But I am also a Diamond member, so I get a lot of perks such as suite discounts, free alcohol, diamond lounge access, etc. Royal Caribbean is a very family oriented cruise line and has a great kids club. I haven't sailed Carnival, but I know others that have and they said they preferred RC because it was less of a party cruise line and had better food. I would look generally at reviews for the child's activities to get a better idea of what your family might like.

 

[Narnia_girl]

You can book pretty much any cruise through UR, you just have to call in. I did my research for cruises on the cruise line website to determine ports/price/dates and then I called into Chase to book it with UR points. They match the current pricing and promotions from the cruise line, including onboard credits, elite status discounts, etc. Something to keep in mind is that only let you apply UR points once, when you first make the reservation. Anything remaining on the balance must be paid via credit card.

I booked a cruise leaving out of Venice in October 2018 on Royal Caribbean. It cost $2000 for a junior suite (amazing deal) and I paid $800 of it with Chase UR points (roughly 53,000 points). The other $1200 will be put on my CSR closer to the due date.

As far as cruise lines, I prefer Royal Caribbean. But I am also a Diamond member, so I get a lot of perks such as suite discounts, free alcohol, diamond lounge access, etc. Royal Caribbean is a very family oriented cruise line and has a great kids club. I haven't sailed Carnival, but I know others that have and they said they preferred RC because it was less of a party cruise line and had better food. I would look generally at reviews for the child's activities to get a better idea of what your family might like.

Just double checking here on the balance. Can that also be paid with gift cards? I know you are referring to RC (not even sure if they have gift cards) but I'm waiting for Disney cruise 2019 itineraries and want to pay the balance with gift cards. I think (hope) that is possible?

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

Just double checking here on the balance. Can that also be paid with gift cards? I know you are referring to RC (not even sure if they have gift cards) but I'm waiting for Disney cruise 2019 itineraries and want to pay the balance with gift cards. I think (hope) that is possible?

Yes, it should still be possible to pay the balance with gift cards. I have booked through travel agencies for most of my cruises and used RC gift cards that I purchased at a discount. You have to call the travel agency and then have them apply the card to the balance. I have always had luck, so I am pretty sure it would work the same way with DCL.

 

[gottalovepluto]

In my Chase account today I noticed the Disney Premier card I was approved for last week has a $49 annual membership fee charged to it as of 8/1... and the card hasn't even arrived yet!

 

[ski_mom]

Yes, it should still be possible to pay the balance with gift cards. I have booked through travel agencies for most of my cruises and used RC gift cards that I purchased at a discount. You have to call the travel agency and then have them apply the card to the balance. I have always had luck, so I am pretty sure it would work the same way with DCL.

Where did you find RC gift cards at a discount? We said mostly Carnival and RC. I can get Carnival cards easily with 10% off (through All State Rewards, AARP and Verizon). Those same places sell RC cards, but they can only be used on the original booking if I'm understanding the terms correctly.

Thanks!

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

Where did you find RC gift cards at a discount? We said mostly Carnival and RC. I can get Carnival cards easily with 10% off (through All State Rewards, AARP and Verizon). Those same places sell RC cards, but they can only be used on the original booking if I'm understanding the terms correctly.

Thanks!

They changed the language on the gift cards maybe a year ago? They never used to have restrictive language regarding when they could be applied to the cruise. Now there is some language saying it can only be applied to a new booking or something. I haven't tried buying or applying a gift card since the change, so I am not sure if it would still be accepted or not.

 

[ski_mom]

They changed the language on the gift cards maybe a year ago? They never used to have restrictive language regarding when they could be applied to the cruise. Now there is some language saying it can only be applied to a new booking or something. I haven't tried buying or applying a gift card since the change, so I am not sure if it would still be accepted or not.

Ah, that makes sense. Thanks! If you find out in the future there is a way to use them other than initial booking, please post about it if you remember. I'd love to get that discount on RC cruises as well. We just got back from a Carnival cruise with the family and I got a little carried away buying the discounted gift cards. I already have a little over $500 left from this cruise. I forgot that I'd already paid for the gratuities and took along enough to cover them as well as our spending and didn't need the money since they'd already been paid (oops!).

 

[peel]

DH was approved for the Blue Cash Preferred, and I got an increased bonus from $150 to $250 going incongnito. Every little bit helps! But he was only given a $5000 limit. They gave me $30K on my new SPG! What gives, Amex?? I'm hoping we can shift some credit from either his Hilton or SPG to make this new card higher. If not, we may also be applying for the Arrival+. I'm feeling like we're at the credit card saturation point, and it's going to be difficult to keep all of these balls in the air.

That being said, how logical/illogical does this approach sound? I spend $1000 of the vet surgery bill on the new BCP to meet the minimum spend and get my $250 back. Subtract the $95 AF and I end up with $155 plus $10 for the 1% back on the purchase, netting me $165. I pay the rest of the vet bill on my new SPG to finish that minimum spend, then do a balance transfer to the BCP, which will give me a 0% APR for 12 months after I pay the 3% BT fee. Too convoluted?

 

[peel]

double post

 

[platamama]

DH was approved for the Blue Cash Preferred, and I got an increased bonus from $150 to $250 going incongnito. Every little bit helps! But he was only given a $5000 limit. They gave me $30K on my new SPG! What gives, Amex?? I'm hoping we can shift some credit from either his Hilton or SPG to make this new card higher. If not, we may also be applying for the Arrival+. I'm feeling like we're at the credit card saturation point, and it's going to be difficult to keep all of these balls in the air.

That being said, how logical/illogical does this approach sound? I spend $1000 of the vet surgery bill on the new BCP to meet the minimum spend and get my $250 back. Subtract the $95 AF and I end up with $155 plus $10 for the 1% back on the purchase, netting me $165. I pay the rest of the vet bill on my new SPG to finish that minimum spend, then do a balance transfer to the BCP, which will give me a 0% APR for 12 months after I pay the 3% BT fee. To convoluted?

Just make sure they accept AMEX! Not all businesses do, unfortunately.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Just make sure they accept AMEX! Not all businesses do, unfortunately.

Agreed. Sounds like a plan unless they don't take Amex. My regular vet does not, specialty vet does (met spend on AMEX SPG & Citi AA cards there)

 

[Albort]

Agreed. Sounds like a plan unless they don't take Amex. My regular vet does not, specialty vet does (met spend on AMEX SPG & Citi AA cards there)

this this this... i had plans on making my spending on my utility bill(ie electric, health insurance and water/trash), but none of them took amex! i ended up using plastiq to cover the remaining 10k for SPG with just my health insurance.

 

[Alice Sr.]

DH and I opened a Chase checking account 2 years ago so we would have a local bank. When we realized that we could get Disney debit cards, we were both ecstatic. And then I learned that you get the same in park benefits with the debit card as you do with the credit card. All we really wanted the credit card for is the Chase exclusive meet and greet, and now we get it without needing to take up a 5/24 slot.

What! That's crazy, great news, thanks

Yes you can! I have a few different ones.

Hmm, my SiL was recently approved after calling in to verify their address (he added my DD as AU) and they would not let him get more than one design (they both had to have the same card). I thought that was odd. How did you get multiple cards?

 

[ski_mom]

DH got an invitation to apply and it has an offer for 100,000 points. I was thinking of getting this for him and then applying for one for myself so we'd both have the free night benefit at the same time. If we both get the card, I guess we both need IHG reward accounts for the points to go to? Right now, we just have one account that we use and it has DH's name on it.

 

[peel]

Just make sure they accept AMEX! Not all businesses do, unfortunately.

Agreed. Sounds like a plan unless they don't take Amex. My regular vet does not, specialty vet does (met spend on AMEX SPG & Citi AA cards there)

this this this... i had plans on making my spending on my utility bill(ie electric, health insurance and water/trash), but none of them took amex! i ended up using plastiq to cover the remaining 10k for SPG with just my health insurance.

They do!! How do I know? They've already got a couple thousand from my SPG Amex.

@CyndiLouWho it sounds like you understand what I'm dealing with!

 

[Ava]

You can book pretty much any cruise through UR, you just have to call in. I did my research for cruises on the cruise line website to determine ports/price/dates and then I called into Chase to book it with UR points. They match the current pricing and promotions from the cruise line, including onboard credits, elite status discounts, etc. Something to keep in mind is that only let you apply UR points once, when you first make the reservation. Anything remaining on the balance must be paid via credit card.

Thank you for the info! Guess I should concentrate on racking up UR points until we're ready to book. I have been going back & forth on applying for the CIP but this may be the push I need to go for that 80K bonus, even though I don't really have a business. And nudge my wife to apply for her own CSP, which would give us another 55K bonus. Those two bonuses, plus the ~100K UR I already have, would be worth over $3500. Add in whatever additional points we get from spend on those cards and I could probably completely pay for a cruise for all 4 of us, or very close to it.

As far as cruise lines, I prefer Royal Caribbean. But I am also a Diamond member, so I get a lot of perks such as suite discounts, free alcohol, diamond lounge access, etc. Royal Caribbean is a very family oriented cruise line and has a great kids club. I haven't sailed Carnival, but I know others that have and they said they preferred RC because it was less of a party cruise line and had better food. I would look generally at reviews for the child's activities to get a better idea of what your family might like.

Yeah, I've read that about Carnival as well. I've been lurking on the Cruise Critic forums & reading recommendations there for first cruises, and good lines/ships for kids. The options on Carnival out of NYC at the times we could go are both on their new ship, Horizon, which doesn't start sailing until next year so there isn't much info out there about it yet. I'm not too particular about the destination (a beach is a beach, to me) so the choice will come down to the ship, pricing, & available dates.

 

[Albort]

Just made a $100 purchase on walmart.com. gonna see how it plays out. if everything lays out, it should get 15.5x?

 

[pinkxray]

Ok, I've made it through the first 100 pages and have been lurking for the last 100 pages or so. I still have a few questions that are probably answered somewhere.

When it comes to the 5/24 for Chase this is just 5 cards opened in the last 24 months or 5 times applying? I opened the Amazon Visa in April and applied for the Disney with the fee in July (denied but I didn't really know much yet and didn't realize I probably just needed to shift around available credit lines.
So am I 1/24 or 2/24?

Also how does Chase decide how much credit they will give you? It seems so over the place. Some people say they get huge available credit and others get like $3000.I have about 20,000 between 3 Chase cards and that seems to be the limit for me. I have always applied with just my income since I've never been denied until the Disney Premier card. If I start including DH's income which will more than double what I have been putting will that open it up more?

I really want to apply for the CSR I'm afraid of being denied if it will count toward the 5/24. I have never been denied before and I think getting denied for the Disney Premier card is messing with my head!