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Baddog posted:Even if you get the timeshare for free, I don't think the monthly maintenance fees+taxes+(risk of getting some sort of special assessment from the association on your 1/52 share of a room), is worth it. Looks like there are some on ebay for close to free too, so people really want out from under them. I have it burned into my head that timeshare = bad. Totally jealous of the deal you got. 12k SPG points omgggggggggg becoming posted:Approved for the Platinum card at 10:30 PM Thursday night, had the card in my hands at 11:30 AM Saturday. AmEx continues to do right by me. I find that they don't just do right by people-- they always go above and beyond, and the Plat approval zerg rush is an example. I used to think it was silly that my Grandfather paid for his Amex green for decades. Though I still wouldn't pay for a card, over the last two years with Amex I understand his reasoning.
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Aug 30, 2015 00:45
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Brian Fellows posted:Has anyone here made a warranty claim with a credit card company, especially Amex? And does this sound like a situation Amex's warranty would cover? It's been storming a lot here lately so I could see them saying it was damaged through that, but everything is surge protected and all of my other appliances/electronics are just fine. I did recently. Chase didn't give a gently caress, but Visa came through and refunded me the entire amount. It was very clean and easy. Took about 4 weeks from calling in to receiving the check. My experience with Amex is that they're one gazillion times better in every way than Visa/bank branded cards, so I imagine you'll be in fine shape.
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Sep 9, 2015 00:26
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Southwest Premier and Plus both have 50k sign-up bonuses, which makes it feasible to get the companion pass. Edit: Do what PigSlutLisa says. Blinkman987 fucked around with this message at 06:03 on Oct 1, 2015 |
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Oct 1, 2015 05:11
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pig slut lisa posted:If you're applying for these cards now, it makes much more sense to wait a couple weeks to apply and hold off on hitting the bonus spending threshold until January. Then you can knock out the remaining points in early 2016 and have the Companion Pass for 2016/2017, rather than 2015/2016. Great point. I'm dumb.
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Oct 1, 2015 06:03
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triple sulk posted:This is sort of an airline question as much as it is a card question, but I'm wondering if it's worth bothering to grab the Gold SkyMiles card (which has a 50k bonus via incognito) if I'll be flying out of DTW for another number of months. There are usually enough AA options (though American Eagle), but maybe Delta's options on the whole would be better. I've never flown Delta but it seems like with many other airlines the experiences are mixed. I'm not short on total points by any means right now but it's a really low spend for the 50k and there'd at least be some sort of priority boarding. The 50K bonus is the promo level bonus, so that's good. You only get the personal card Amex bonuses once in a lifetime now, so you can get it now but there's no rush or anything to start churning them. I really like having an Amex. They're basically the perfect company in terms of customer service. If you read back a few pages, they accidentally let a $1,000 Plat points bonus get into the wild and accommodated nearly everyone who called in to try to get the promo. Everything besides some hiccups in the online account creation process has been perfect with Amex.
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Oct 2, 2015 21:19
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Boris Galerkin posted:Got the CSP in the mail today which was surprisingly fast and nice since I'm leaving tomorrow. Turns out it's not a real chip and pin card though. I understand this won't be an issue with paying for things from a human where they can take my signature, but I won't be able to use the kiosks in metro stations to purchase metro passes since they have no way of verifying signatures. Meh. If you have a Chase checking account, they can issue you a chipped debit card in-branch.
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Oct 15, 2015 01:13
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Small White Dragon posted:We had similar problems at the Subway and the Arlanda Express in Sweden. I don't know how the Paris subway works now, but I never had a CC work in their terminals from 05' to 11'.
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Oct 15, 2015 19:22
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Bisty Q. posted:It won't help in the situations he was talking about because it's Online PIN only and to be 100% safe you need a card with Offline PIN support. I can't find any information about the PIN being online only, but the Chase website is also predictably dodgy about answering questions about using PIN and basically they say over and over again that the merchant should bypass this part of the purchase.
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Oct 16, 2015 19:57
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Had my first gift card go sideways from a Ralphs grocery store. It wasn't "activated properly." The biggest pain in the rear end was the Visa Gift Card rep telling me I needed to find a fax machine.
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Oct 28, 2015 22:06
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All of the Amex sign-up bonuses are once in a lifetime, so none are really a rush if you're churning. The 50k mr points have to be better than SkyPesos. It is a great time to get an Amex though because Small Business Saturday is coming up in a few weeks. Free money!
Blinkman987 fucked around with this message at 01:03 on Oct 29, 2015 |
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Oct 29, 2015 00:47
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Barry posted:http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2015/09/30/amex-small-business-saturday-2015-credits/ Sad. "We'll put out more ads instead, failing to recognize that people just don't give a poo poo about ads and our ads will be worse than every other ad that weekend."
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Oct 29, 2015 04:46
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I signed up for CapitalOne 360 savings-- I assume it was some existing product purchased from a competitor-- and it has been nothing short of a disaster on the customer service end. Weeks without access to my account, misinformed CS reps, etc... I get my sign-up bonus in a few days and I'm booking it back to AMEX. On that note, though, Citi targeted me for 50K AA miles if I sign up for their elite checking account, do 2 bill pays, and spend $1000 on a debit card. With the monthly charges (unless I move 50k into their bank), it's $60 for 50k AA miles.
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Oct 30, 2015 19:20
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The vendor for those US Bank-backed Visa gift cards is just as bad as anybody has read. After contacting them and faxing in all the required information (within an hour of buying the card!), I wait a day and get no call. I call the following day and on my way to a rep, the automated system informs me that my card only has $5 left on it. I get to a rep and explain the problem (as wall as their lovely service) and now I'm asked to fax all this information to a new number, the US Bank line. These people and faxes like it's 1997. This is on a card I'm not even churning or doing MS on with a bank I'm not even churning with or doing MS with. I've had an awful week and was mentally on tilt with other things, so I make the debatably bad call to inform the rep that I'll just be disputing the charge with my CC company. This is mostly because I'm super irritated at them for knowing that the card was likely compromised and doing nothing about it, lying to me that the funds were inaccessible, my lack of trust in their process, and because I just don't want to spend time on this poo poo anymore. At worst, Citi will just kick me back to the vendor and I'll continue the process with them. Anyway, the overall lesson for anybody getting into this game is that you NEED to save your receipts or else risk getting wrecked on a compromised gift card. Blinkman987 fucked around with this message at 18:30 on Oct 31, 2015 |
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Oct 31, 2015 18:28
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becoming posted:Call them and ask for a higher credit limit; tell them that you can't even buy a loving toaster with this card. Worst they can do is tell you no, but more than likely if you are reasonable and polite, they will try to work something out for you. My advice in any customer service-type interaction is to enlist them to your side. I always start with "I have a problem that I hope you can help me with." Then just go from there. "I recently applied and was approved for _________ and, due to my non-existent credit history, I was given a $300 limit. As you can understand, this is difficult to work with - I need to pay it off several times per month, with a delay while I wait for purchases to post to the account before it can actually be paid. Is there any way we could increase the limit a bit?" They're not going to give you $15k, but I'd be shocked if they didn't do $500 and wouldn't be surprised if they could go to $1k. Great advice, though that didn't work for me with CapOne. I had no credit in college and took the same path-- secured card for a year, turn that into an unsecured card, then open an entry level Chase card. I had to book a flight to Australia for a job I had in school and had to do it on my debit card because CapOne wouldn't raise my limit to OMG $1,000 OMG. I got a few increases here and there automatically, but they kept it relatively small until about 2 years ago-- about 10 years removed from school-- even when new cards had been giving me pretty large limits for years. Jastiger posted:My credit score is in the 700s. If I open up multiple new cards as I shop around does it help or hurt my credit score to have multiple cards open? The short version: It'll go down due to average age of accounts being reduced, but then it'll go up as you have more available credit and those accounts age.
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Nov 1, 2015 18:00
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spongeworthy posted:Thanks for the replies. Gonna try this out rather than incurring $90 in fees for paying my rent. Save all receipts until the money is cleared and you have it back in your bank acct. If you buy a compromised card, it's the only way to get your money back.
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Nov 22, 2015 20:09
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In 2014, I had Chase offer me $200 in credit to cover my $95 fee on their United Mileage Plus card. I had spent $30,000 on the card in the 12-month period. That's the only offer I've received.
Blinkman987 fucked around with this message at 02:35 on Dec 1, 2015 |
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Nov 30, 2015 20:50
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obi_ant posted:Just signed up for the Chase Sapphire Preferred card. I added in my girlfriend as an authorized user. From my understanding if she makes one purchase, I receive 5,000 points. Is there a minimum amount she needs to spend? You don't even really need her to make the purchase iirc. Mine was the same exact card number, security number, expiration date. Chase can't tell which card is used.
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Dec 3, 2015 02:16
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Chase also doesn't have any flex in the fee itself, which sucks. It's the first card I'll be paying the annual fee to keep. I'm insuring a trip with trip cancellation/interruption insurance via the card. It's covered for the full amount so long as I pay it all on the card OR on between the card and my Chase checking.
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Jan 6, 2016 00:23
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Cicero posted:I tried to get into churning a while back but the manufactured spending techniques felt like too much of a headache. This year I'm planning on doing rewards credit cards with sign-up bonuses and just putting regular spending on them. I'm thinking about picking a couple credit cards (that don't have a first year annual fee) each quarter from the points guy's airline card page, does that sound like a reasonable plan? Besides the fact that I'm still trying to resolve a $500 compromised visa gift card from November, M$ is a pain in the rear end. Some people just don't mind that it's a pain in the rear end. I used to do it more, but now I just do it when I need to top off min spends on cards.
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Jan 6, 2016 04:25
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I thought Citi had the rule where you couldn't qualify for another bonus within 18 months of closing the card?
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Jan 8, 2016 18:42
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BlueFootedBoobie posted:I'm a current Bank of America customer who uses its Cash Rewards cards for all purchases, paying in full in month (about 800 FICO). I also have an old BOA points rewards card and a Barclays card that I just used for an apple purchase, neither of which I still use. I recommend the CSP. I have no experience with the Arrival+, but here's my position for the CSP: 1 - The bonus is currently 10K more than the normal promo bonus. It's at 50K total. 2 - $10k in trip cancellation/interruption insurance annually 3 - Delayed baggage reimbursement on the card 4 - The Chase app is really nice and easy to use, especially on iOS 5 - Rental car coverage is primary with the CSP, not secondary. So, it kicks in before your personal car insurance. 6 - If you ever wanted the CSP, you have to do it before you have 5 apps in 2 years total across all credit card companies. Chase will deny your application if you have that many apps with no reconsideration.Therefore, it's the best card to start with. As for the points, it's been hit or miss. At times I've found that it was a better value to purchase flights with cash. At other times, I've found that the 25% redemption bonus was a good value. Their travel tool likely has different agreements with different carriers. I just cleaned out my CSP account for straight cash because I have so many airline/hotel points across partners and points in other card programs which are less versatile. I believe the only real big sell for the Arrival+ is that you could open a Citi checking account with that specific card and it wouldn't count as a cash advance, so people were finding ways to open checking accounts for like $75,000 and then using that cash to pay off their Arrival+. Navigating that level of churn is probably not for the uninitiated, though.
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Jan 11, 2016 21:01
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As someone who loves Amex's customer service-- what the gently caress is happening to their card portfolio?!?!?!
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Jan 12, 2016 00:51
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Baddog posted:hate to break it to you....
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Jan 12, 2016 02:47
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Small White Dragon posted:Aside from SPG (and maybe Hyatt?), hotel points aren't worth a whole lot, although at least Hilton gives you a minimum 2 or 3 points per dollar on CC spend, and more on a variety of bonus categories. I wish Chase did the same. IMO, Hilton only works if you're staying there and spending on a Hilton card to get the 10/$1 rate. Hilton redemption practically starts at 20k from my experience. 30k if you want to stay in a midrange major city and not at some shabby Hampton Inn in the middle of nowhere. The Reserve card does give you a free night upon paying the fee for the year but only if you've spent $20k on the card for the year. Garbaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaage Also, I have found that if you are staying there, they will spam you with so many points multiplier promos and special offers that you'll actually be able to get to a redemption-- but, stuff like that sets off the "this is a scam, they are trying to trap you into some scam" alarm going off in my head. I think I'm currently getting 15 pts/$1 on Hilton spends on my card and double United miles for the partner earning.
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Jan 13, 2016 02:38
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Small White Dragon posted:If we compare the Hilton and Marriott charts, it seems like Hilton redemptions are about 2x Marriott in general; TPG estimates Hilton points at about 0.5 cents each and Marriott at about 0.7. Sure. I must've misunderstood the context of the conversation. Yes, I wouldn't do daily spends on either. asur posted:If you want an answer, you can call the Chase reconsideration line and give them your application number. I've seen that Alaska card get put on all the blogs about how this is one of the few churnable options, so it's possible that they're paying special attention to that card.
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Jan 15, 2016 00:09
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Chase is the only company that will lifetime blacklist people for promo abuse, so I tread carefully with them.
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Jan 16, 2016 00:05
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SiGmA_X posted:Has anyone downgraded a Chase card with an annual fee lately? They declined my request to downgrade my British Airways card to a Freedom, and stated I can't have more than one card of the same product type anymore... I've never been allowed to downgrade my partner-branded cards into a bank-branded card. What constitutes a "product type?" I have both the SW Plus and Premier card with them, having renewed the Premier card in December.
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Jan 18, 2016 22:46
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Pompous Rhombus posted:Update on this: approved for the Sapphire Preferred (didn't realise there was an automated number I could call to check, so I waited the suggested week until I tried calling in again)! Pro-tip: you can get delivery expedited in 1-2 business days at no additional charge if you ask. Initially the rep offered 3-5 days instead of the standard 2 weeks, when I asked if I could pay to get it a bit faster she mentioned the 1-2 day thing, and that it was free. I imagine they don't tell you outright to save themselves having everybody get it rushed at their expense. Ask to move your credit limit from the BA card to the Sapphire, then close the card. If they ask, say that you like the Sapphire bonus categories more and that you can move points or whatever. I don't think that canceling the BA card is an issue. You can probably sign up for the United Explorer card. I'd wait for the 50k bonus (55k with the authorized user) but I haven't seen that offer in 9 months or so. If you're only going to be able to game this with tuition for a while, then 30k is better than 0k. Nobody knows what the thresholds are for being blacklisted by Chase. Some people do insane M$ and never get touched. Others get hammered for far less. A google search: https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=chase%20blacklist Note that you can only get the Venture $400 credit towards travel. If you put it towards other things, like a pair of jeans, you get half the value. Capital One was always a bit silly with me. They gave me my first card as a student when other companies wouldn't. Then they would never, ever raise my limit even as I got jobs and promotions. I sat there with a $3,000 limit Cap One fee free card forever. It's only $5k as of today. I recently got the Venture and they were like, sure, here's $20k lol.
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Jan 23, 2016 05:06
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I'm renewing this month, but that's because I'm using the $10k limit on travel insurance on a trip this year and it's cheaper than buying the travel insurance outright. Also, the primary insurance on a car rental coming up is going to be very useful (so long as the agency doesn't literally force us to insure the car with them). I've never had to use the delayed baggage reimbursement, and I don't move enough through that card to be able to push large numbers of points into different loyalty programs connected to the CSP. I will not likely renew next year.
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Feb 3, 2016 02:30
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I think Citi is scrutinizing bonuses more. I signed up for the Citi Gold debit card in December, did my bill pays in December and January and also completed my min spend in December. I have yet to receive my 50k AA miles. I called in to see if I had completed all requirements, and the rep noted that I had and that I should receive my miles in 90 days. Not within 90 days-- IN 90 days. People reported getting their miles way earlier, but so far that's not my experience. That'll be ~$90 in fees before I get my miles.
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Feb 23, 2016 02:59
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pig slut lisa posted:I think this is an excellent writeup and I agree with everything 100%. The only thing I would add in favor of the CSP is that it has much better trip protection when you book an award ticket with it. Even if you book a Southwest flight with RR points and you only put the $5.60 (or whatever it is) travel fee on it, and that flight is subsequently delayed more than 12 hours or requires an overnight stay, Chase will cover up to $500 per ticket of non-reimbursed expenses such as meals and lodging. They also will cover up to $100 per day of purchases of toiletries, clothing, etc. if your checked bags are delayed by more than 6 hours. I was in this exact situation a month ago. Booked an award ticket and paid the tax on CSP. Got my $400 check last week. One night at Encore, meal at Red 8, taxis, toiletries, and breakfast. The one thing that got me is that I was honest that I was eating dinner with a companion. Not married nor domestic partner. So, only half our meal at Red 8 was covered and they didn't cover tips on the meal, but they did on the taxi (counter to what others had reported on taxis) .
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Mar 28, 2016 07:46
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I believe it's targeted since none of the blogs caught it this morning, but United MP card sign-up bonus is back to 50k bonus miles for $2k spend in 3 months until late May. I've been waiting top off those miles (so good for Asia flights) so that's exciting. Plus, 5k miles for authorized user add-on.
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Apr 27, 2016 04:38
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My new United Mileage Plus Explorer comes in the mail in a week. Is there a gimmick with Mileage Plus X to meet the spending requirement and eek out some extra value? Edit: Buy Amazon gift cards for +2 mi/$1 in the app and then the +2 mi/$1 from the credit card itself? Blinkman987 fucked around with this message at 08:47 on May 21, 2016 |
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May 21, 2016 08:38
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Thanks. Found this as well, and can easily replace MileagePlus Shopping with whatever portal I want to use.
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May 21, 2016 18:39
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I always provide the social referral URLs which appear immediately.
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Jul 19, 2016 07:52
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I got my US Bank Amex Gold for the Global Entry reimbursement, and it's also time for a new mattress. Yes! Costco has a great-- maybe the actual best value-- foam mattress on sale this month. And just in time to use... my.... Amex.... god dammit. Guess I'm going to try and churn the Capital One Venture card that I opened back in Jan.
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Aug 2, 2016 08:56
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How the hell is anybody under 5/24? lol
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Aug 23, 2016 06:15
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Something I remembered yesterday-- If you got the Amex Blue Preferred with the 10% back on telecom bill offer, that should apply to equipment purchases according to what I've seen on Nerd Wallet and such. So, that's 10% back on your iPhone purchase so long as you haven't already hit the $200 cap.
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Sep 14, 2016 20:57
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Hot Dog Day 42069 posted:Chase Freedom's holiday quarter 5% isn't Amazon this year. It's department stores. Like asking for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for NES and grandma gives you the Tiger Electronics version of it for Christmas.
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Sep 17, 2016 03:18
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I have one store credit card for Crate and Barrel because the general proposition is 10% back in store credit so long as you jump through a few hoops. Now, it could be argued that paying C&B prices to begin with is pretty much throwing money away.
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Sep 21, 2016 01:07
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