I love credit cards so much!

[Alexle2007]

Anyone ever stayed at a Marriott property in Baltimore? DH and I decided to nix our AZ trip for the spring as there are some upgrades we'd like to make to our house, and instead just take an overnight trip away for our anniversary using my Marriott free night certificate. I'm thinking Baltimore since we've never been there together before, and the last time I went I was in 5th grade! It looks like there's a nice new Delta hotel at the Harbor, and a Renaissance at the Harbor. Anyone ever stayed at either of these? Both of them the rooms are 35,000 points. For the Renaissance, it's 35,000 points plus $40 for a harbor view room. Does anyone know if I would be allowed to use my free night certificate and then pay the extra $40 for the harbor view?

I haven’t actually stayed at the Renaissance but we typically park there when we go to the Inner Harbor and have been there for an event and it is a great location since it’s the heart of the Inner Harbor. The aquarium and science center are right there and there is nightlife a block away. And some close to Little Italy or great seafood. Depending when you go, there maybe concerts at Pier 5. Of course, the Orioles and Ravens are within walking distance. Now to go see where the new Delta hotel is located...

 

[Alexle2007]

1) login to chase
2) go to the ultimate rewards tab
3) go to your CFU ultimate rewards
4) go to review more activity under the UR total
5) scroll down to Most Recent Activity and Bonus earn--- mine says Walmart.com $25 (under amount tab) 1537.5 (under points) and next to the 1537.5 "bonus earn" is in light blue

Thanks! I see them there! Now to check DH’s account.

 

[tink1970]

It looks like there's an Amex SPG card with a 75,000 sign up bonus and that those points can transfer to Delta. Will that transfer to Delta 1:1 or after the merger will that only get me 25,000 Delta miles (not even one rt flight)? Can Delta miles be used for the Skywest Delta connection flights too? Thanks!

After the merger, SPG/Marriot points really aren't a great way to get airline miles. 60,000 points=20,000 miles plus a 5,000 bonus so you're right, probably not enough for a RT ticket. When you book through Delta.com the miles would apply to all legs of the flight and yes, include skywest...there will be a note under "details" such as "DL 1234 Skywest doing business as Delta Connection."

 

[DisneyMandC]

I haven’t actually stayed at the Renaissance but we typically park there when we go to the Inner Harbor and have been there for an event and it is a great location since it’s the heart of the Inner Harbor. The aquarium and science center are right there and there is nightlife a block away. And some close to Little Italy or great seafood. Depending when you go, there maybe concerts at Pier 5. Of course, the Orioles and Ravens are within walking distance. Now to go see where the new Delta hotel is located...

Thanks! My DH loves Italian food, so that would be perfect. The Delta hotel doesn't look far away at all, though the Renaissance is just a smidge closer to the aquarium I think. Either one looks like a great option, but might be nice to have views of the water at the Renaissance.

 

[Alexle2007]

Thanks! My DH loves Italian food, so that would be perfect. The Delta hotel doesn't look far away at all, though the Renaissance is just a smidge closer to the aquarium I think. Either one looks like a great option, but might be nice to have views of the water at the Renaissance.

The Renaissance is right in the middle and probably about equal distance to the aquarium and science center. I’ve been to the aquarium several time for school field trips with DS and the last 3 years for a friend’s work Christmas party which is amazing seeing the exhibits at the night. Sabatino’s is our favorite for Italian. Love their seafood fettuccine with rose sauce. Vaccaro’s is a wonderful Italian bakery there.

 

[DisneyMandC]

The Renaissance is right in the middle and probably about equal distance to the aquarium and science center. I’ve been to the aquarium several time for school field trips with DS and the last 3 years for a friend’s work Christmas party which is amazing seeing the exhibits at the night. Sabatino’s is our favorite for Italian. Love their seafood fettuccine with rose sauce. Vaccaro’s is a wonderful Italian bakery there.

Thanks! I'm going to write those restaurant names down. I LOVED the aquarium when I went as a kid, but it's been so long. I think it would be a nice overnight trip for us so I'm looking forward to this!

 

[Judique]

the suggestion is Dec 1-10 on reddit. before the 15th is what ppl recommended.

@striker1064 I applied 11/18 and my closing for my Gold card will be 12/14/18. When @Lain comes by, he'll tell me whether I can triple dip, but I think I can, if I were not to keep the card. Not sure on that as I need to see whether it will continue to pay it's bill over time.

I think it goes: buy a $100 gift card before Dec 14. Buy another in 2019 sometime, then buy a third in early January of 2020, then close card within 30 days of annual fee posting. In other words with a statement close of Dec 14, I should be within the 30 days to get a fee refund or not owe the fee.

 

[SBWB48]

I haven’t actually stayed at the Renaissance but we typically park there when we go to the Inner Harbor and have been there for an event and it is a great location since it’s the heart of the Inner Harbor. The aquarium and science center are right there and there is nightlife a block away. And some close to Little Italy or great seafood. Depending when you go, there maybe concerts at Pier 5. Of course, the Orioles and Ravens are within walking distance. Now to go see where the new Delta hotel is located...

The Renaissance is right in the middle and probably about equal distance to the aquarium and science center. I’ve been to the aquarium several time for school field trips with DS and the last 3 years for a friend’s work Christmas party which is amazing seeing the exhibits at the night. Sabatino’s is our favorite for Italian. Love their seafood fettuccine with rose sauce. Vaccaro’s is a wonderful Italian bakery there.

Thanks! I'm going to write those restaurant names down. I LOVED the aquarium when I went as a kid, but it's been so long. I think it would be a nice overnight trip for us so I'm looking forward to this!

I second @Alexle2007 on Vaccarro's and Sabatino's, esp. gelato at Vaccarro's! Ciao Bella is another decent place. I work about a block and a half from the Renaissance and it's a wonderful location. Most importantly, relatively safe and close to just about everything. Every time I walk through the hotel, since it's connected to the Gallery 'mall', staff is courteous and hotel looks clean and pleasant.

 

[Alexle2007]

I think DS is done for Christmas gifts now thanks to shopping portals and online shopping but wow there won’t be much to look at under the tree. We ended up getting him an iPhone 8 to replace his 5, the new iPad, a cologne set for his tween funk and I’m going to do an advent calendar out of Chinese food take out boxes that I ordered from Amazon. Now to find the 24 items to fill them with. Probably some Lego men and other small items. And since we ordering him a new phone, we are replacing mine too since my screen cracked. Of course, after the fact DH says oh, I thought you would be ordering the X for yourself...hmmm, wish you would have given me that green light to start with...DH saw I ordered the Apple Watch and insists he doesn’t want it so I’ll be making Target return run when it arrives. Still debating if DS’s will go under the tree or just get returned also.

 

[Alexle2007]

Oh, and iFly has a BF special so DS’s birthday outing is booked with his BF. They did it this year also and loved it so why ruin a good thing.

 

[Lain]

@striker1064 I applied 11/18 and my closing for my Gold card will be 12/14/18. When @Lain comes by, he'll tell me whether I can triple dip, but I think I can, if I were not to keep the card. Not sure on that as I need to see whether it will continue to pay it's bill over time.

I think it goes: buy a $100 gift card before Dec 14. Buy another in 2019 sometime, then buy a third in early January of 2020, then close card within 30 days of annual fee posting. In other words with a statement close of Dec 14, I should be within the 30 days to get a fee refund or not owe the fee.

You’re set. Cancel within 30 days of the close of the statement on which the AF posts for a full refund. The AF posts on the day before or on the last day of the 1st (and 13th) statement. So you should have almost 2 weeks in January 2020 to select your airline, buy a GC, and have the reimbursement post before you have to cancel.

 

[disneybirds]

Looking for some advice on what credit card to get for Delta rewards. We are flying my husband's parents from their podunk airport to MCO. It looks like the best airline for them would be Delta (Skywest Delta connection to DTW and Delta nonstop from DTW to MCO) we always fly SWA on points from our airport, so I want to get a credit card with good rewards for Delta but not necessarily Delta branded since that's not something we'll be able to use for ourselves. I have the Chase Sapphire Reserve, but have used most of my reward points for other things. It looks like there's an Amex SPG card with a 75,000 sign up bonus and that those points can transfer to Delta. Will that transfer to Delta 1:1 or after the merger will that only get me 25,000 Delta miles (not even one rt flight)? Can Delta miles be used for the Skywest Delta connection flights too? Thanks!

We are a Delta hostage and have Delta branded cards, but we also have AmEx Membership Rewards (MR) cards that can be used to purchase flights. We have the Platinum Business, Everyday Preferred, and Blue Business. Here is an article that describes the MR program. https://frequentmiler.boardingarea.com/amex-membership-rewards/ We use the points from the Everyday Pref and Blue Business to purchase flights with the Platinum Business.

We had to buy last minute tickets over the Thanksgiving holiday this week and it was cheaper to buy them with MR than with Delta miles. Delta wanted 90K miles for a $750 flight. We have the Platinum Business where you get back 35% of the points after 30 days for your designated airline. We ended up spending 75K points, but will get back 26.25K points in a month. Several downsides to this card is that has a $450 annual fee and you have to have the points to book the flight and then wait for the refund. There have been folks getting 75-100K MR bonus with the Platinum, but it requires a hefty spend.

I will leave it to the experts on here to give you a detailed card plan, but this is how we use the MR points for Delta flights.

 

[SBWB48]

Has anyone seen statement credits from Chase offers yet? I went to La Madeline last Monday (11/19) and nothing yet....

 

[afan]

Has anyone seen statement credits from Chase offers yet? I went to La Madeline last Monday (11/19) and nothing yet....

I got the email but there's nothing on my account showing the credit back yet.

 

[miztressuz]

Leak on the Marriott rewards program name - Marriott Bonvoy. https://onemileatatime.com/marriott-bonvoy/

I have no words. Was hoping for something better than that. The good thing is they should be changing the names of the higher rewards tiers, that should ease some confusion with 3 different levels of Platinum. But that's just an awkward name.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Leak on the Marriott rewards program name - Marriott Bonvoy. https://onemileatatime.com/marriott-bonvoy/

I have no words. Was hoping for something better than that. The good thing is they should be changing the names of the higher rewards tiers, that should ease some confusion with 3 different levels of Platinum. But that's just an awkward name.

I do... HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

 

[gottalovepluto]

Has anyone seen statement credits from Chase offers yet? I went to La Madeline last Monday (11/19) and nothing yet....

Starbucks purchase from either 11/19 or 11/21 shows as used and $1.25 shows as earned. Haven’t seen the credit hit my cc yet. Just used Staples today so I’ll keep an eye on that one for timing as well.

 

[LuckyMamaInDE]

I received an email earlier today that I earned a statement credit for the Starbucks offer. I visited Starbucks on 11/17. It says the credit will be applied to my account in 7-14 business days.

The interesting part is that I signed up for the Chase Offer after 11/17!

 

[DisneyMandC]

I received an email earlier today that I earned a statement credit for the Starbucks offer. I visited Starbucks on 11/17. It says the credit will be applied to my account in 7-14 business days.

The interesting part is that I signed up for the Chase Offer after 11/17!

I can’t remember what the name of the company is that does these offers, but it’s the same one for BoA. I’ve often added offers after making a charge and they’ve still credited on my BoA charge, so perhaps it’s the same for Chase.

 

[Alexle2007]

At 47, the MCO Club bartender made me feel awesome by checking to ensure I was old enough to serve me the blood orange margarita I am now enjoying compliments of my CSR