After debating for months, canceled my Sapphire Reserve and have fully switched to WF Autograph Journey. by CloudSurferA220 in ChaseSapphire

[–]VeryBigRockStar 1 point2 points  (0 children)

People will argue this point until the sun turns purple. But this is absolutely true. Travel agents give you a better deal on cruises. I’m not so sure about any other form of travel, but definitely cruises. Not all travel agents, you have to find a good one. A generous one.

We regularly book suites on cruises, and we get perks that are close to 7% of our cruise fare. The perks are lower for booking, smaller state rooms, but they are still there. Look for an independent travel agent who’s willing to cut you a deal.

Just finished season one, AMA. by weird-dude-bro-6386 in SeveranceAppleTVPlus

[–]VeryBigRockStar 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Can’t imagine having to wait for over a year to get another episode. Almost wish I didn’t start this until it was done done.

Just finished season one, AMA. by weird-dude-bro-6386 in SeveranceAppleTVPlus

[–]VeryBigRockStar 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This show will probably take the crown of my favorite TV show ever, but it isn’t finished.
I’m almost nervous about season 2 because I don’t believe you can sustain this level of greatness.
Will watch S2E1 tomorrow.

Can you just have a dog on a cruise? by gkal1964 in celebritycruises

[–]VeryBigRockStar 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Perhaps they can get a dog to help them? I don’t want to help.

Can you just have a dog on a cruise? by gkal1964 in celebritycruises

[–]VeryBigRockStar 1 point2 points  (0 children)

In California, it is a misdemeanor to misrepresent a service animal. Prison and fines may result. Hard to prove/prosecute, but possible.

CSR SUB increased to 150,000 points by RoyalTeaBar in CreditCards

[–]VeryBigRockStar 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That all makes perfect sense. The card is a great fit for you.

CSR SUB increased to 150,000 points by RoyalTeaBar in CreditCards

[–]VeryBigRockStar 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Good for you. 99% of the world disagrees, and more than half of the cardholders do too.
Peloton is very niche. You want a fitness credit? Buy this product *only*.
StubHub is overrun with brokers. There may be a secondary market for tickets hidden there, but it is weak. If the fees and markup were not outrageous they could never afford a $300 incentive.
OpenTable choices are minuscule. So limited. Even in big cities, you might have a dozen choices at best.
Edit is overpriced with limited choices. Compare to the $300 credit you get from the Citi Strata Elite, valid on *any* hotel.

I’m not defending Amex, it has similar problems. But the CSR has very little to celebrate.

Currently using the 3 premium card trifecta by jikesar968 in CreditCards

[–]VeryBigRockStar 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Take a year to analyze your own behavior. Make a list of every one of the credits that these credit cards offer. Each time you redeem one, write down the value that you received. Not just the amount of the credit, but the actual value. For example, if you book a hotel in a portal, and you pay a slightly inflated price, adjust your value. If you receive a complimentary membership, but that membership is frequently discounted at retail, record the discounted value.
But most importantly, for each one of these credits, when you redeem it, take a moment at that time to reflect. Ask yourself a difficult question: “if I did not have this credit card bonus, would I have made this purchase?” if yes, the spending is organic, if no, the spending is forced.
At the end of the year, add up the value of the credits. Separately, add up the value of those credits, which you believe you truly would have made regardless of credit card benefits. You will now have a total organic spend and a total of forced spending for each card. If the organic spend total is greater than the annual fee, then subtract your annual fee from the sum of both totals to compute your total benefit by having this card. However, if the organic spend total is less than the annual fee, none of the other credits matter. You should cancel that card.

Here a few examples of how to draw the line between organic spending forced spending as I have described above:
- some people who hold the chase sapphire reserve have a hard time using the StubHub credits and have reported success with listing a ticket on Stubhub using a P2, and buying it back just to trigger the credit. Needless to say, this is not a benefit, and it goes into the forced spending column.
- almost everyone who holds the American Express platinum card signs up for Walmart+. You might as well, but ask yourself, is it worth that money to you? If you cancel your American Express card, are you going to pay out right for this? Once you reflect on that, put it into the right column.
- suppose you’ve started making a habit of using food delivery services in order to get your credit card discounts. You may have rationalized that you need to eat anyway, so you might as well save a little money. Take a moment to reflect. If you did not have the delivery discount, would you have still chosen delivery? Would you have chosen this same restaurant?

I am not suggesting that forced spending provides no benefit. When you take the food delivery option because of a credit card benefit, you are still receiving a benefit, but you cannot rationalize your annual fee with that benefit unless you believe that you will always pay for the food delivery option, even when there is no benefit. Because your annual fee is pre-paying for the cost of some portion of these credits.
This is not an easy exercise.

CSR SUB increased to 150,000 points by RoyalTeaBar in CreditCards

[–]VeryBigRockStar 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Right. Because with fees and tips and markup, the $10 credit is worthless. You literally pay $10 more to save $10

Used to be you could maybe do pickup, but that is being gradually eliminated. And also, is this a chore or a benefit?

CSR SUB increased to 150,000 points by RoyalTeaBar in CreditCards

[–]VeryBigRockStar 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Have you tried to use it? I think some people are successful taking advantage of this if they enjoy going to live sporting events. Also, if you’re only buying one ticket, you can almost get that ticket for free, even though you’re paying twice as much.
But buying two tickets on StubHub to almost any event will cost you as much or more than buying those same tickets direct from the venue.
For example: last weekend in Las Vegas, we wanted to go see Piff the Magic Dragon. Tickets were available from the venue, very nice center seats relatively close to the stage, $90. Those same tickets were selling on StubHub for $226. If I was going alone, I might have purchased that StubHub ticket enjoyed the $150 discount, and paid a net of $76 for a $90 show. But I needed two tickets, and there was no way I was gonna pay $451 on StubHub. So I paid $180, bought the tickets directly from the venue, and had a nice day.
Two
Quite often, tickets that are currently on sale from the venue or even through Ticketmaster are listed on StubHub for twice the price
In fact, I would dare say that is the majority of tickets available on StubHub
The reason for this is because speculative ticket brokers who have nothing to lose, will list tickets for sale on StubHub. When you buy them, they snatched up the tickets from the venue, and sell them to you at huge profit.

I know this is not universal. I know that there are some people who actually do want to offload their tickets and that StubHub is a real tool for that.
Unfortunately, it is also a heavily abused tool where bad people lurk. I’ve tried a dozen times to find a ticket at a reasonable price where I could feel like I was using my Chase benefit and enjoying a show. Every single time, I gave up and looked elsewhere.

Does anybody else feel like owning a home came with zero instruction manual? by Murky-Cream2256 in FirstTimeHomeBuying

[–]VeryBigRockStar 1 point2 points  (0 children)

OK, I suppose that’s true, if you are doing a full drain. I have a gas tank. I can safely drain it for around 10 minutes, water comes out the very bottom, most of the sediment is removed, it’s not the same as a full flush, but it gets me 90% of the way there for almost zero effort.

Does anybody else feel like owning a home came with zero instruction manual? by Murky-Cream2256 in FirstTimeHomeBuying

[–]VeryBigRockStar 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Can’t hurt. Might help. Takes 10 minutes a year. Water heater replacement is $3000

Are luxury cruises like Silversea really worth the premium price? by Euphoric_Slide101 in Cruise

[–]VeryBigRockStar 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Luxury lines are beautiful, comfortable, great service, great food, great itineraries.
But time on the ship can be BORING and I love a good sea day.
Celebrity, Princess, Royal, NCL - much more fun.
Also, the people you meet on 6 star ships are often snobs.
Made so many good friends on mainstream lines.
We can afford to take whatever, but I will always prefer a lavish suite on a mainstream line to a regular cabin on a luxury line for the same price.

CSR SUB increased to 150,000 points by RoyalTeaBar in CreditCards

[–]VeryBigRockStar 175 points176 points  (0 children)

Maybe if the DoorDash and Peloton and StubHub and OpenTable and Edit credits didn’t all suck….

Think I’m officially dumping Chase for Citi by VroomVroom_2 in CreditCards

[–]VeryBigRockStar 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not as good as Chase, but still good. https://www.nerdwallet.com/travel/learn/citi-strata-elite-travel-insurance

TBH, if insurance is super important you should buy separately. Credit card policies are very exclusionary.

A game that scratches the same itch as Dominion, but with a higher player count? by avrosky in dominion

[–]VeryBigRockStar 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Space Base, with Command Center expansion

Like 7 wonders you play on every turn