Discussion Post-Your Questions Answered!

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This post will be bumped back up to the top about once a day…

In this post you can ask whatever miscellaneous question that you may have!

I don’t know the answers to every question, nor do I always have the time to answer everyone’s questions, so feel free to answer other people’s questions as well!

If your question/comment pertains to a specific posted deal, please comment in the post for that deal and not here.

If you have any suggestions feel free to comment here as well.

chavi

how is this different besides for the 30 bucks from the other iberia post?

Dan/Ctownbochur

It’s not, it’s just a good way to save $32-$62 on an already sweet deal!

Dan/Ctownbochur

The consensus seems to be YMMV (Your mileage may vary)
You may get a nice rep to do it for you or you may not!
If you try it out, please let us know what happens.

Daniel Hochman

Hi,

I have a ticket already on Continental from 1/15 to 1/29 for around $1000. Is it worth canceling the ticket and getting this one? I think the fee to cancel/ change is $200.

Dan, do you know any way to cancel it without such a large penalty?

BTW, it’s a multi-destination ticket with the following route: EWR-CLE-LAX-EWR-TLV-EWR. I don’t know if it makes a difference though.

Thanks,
Daniel

izzy

Daniel I don’t understand why you are asking Dan if its’ worth cancelling your Continental ticket. you know what you paid and you know what you are getting for it. It’s your pocket not Dan’s.
having said that I would think that $1000.00 for a ticket that included going from ewr to clev and LA and back to Newark besides going to Israel is a very good deal. The continental prices for tickets just to Israel with those dates are more then 1000 dollars. and tickets to LA also cost plenty and Clev as well so what are you thinking?

Daniel Hochman

Sorry, I wasn’t so clear. The $1000 I mentioned was for the EWR-TLV-EWR Leg of the ticket- the whole ticket was around $1400. I was simply asking Dan from his travel experiences if he thinks such a move is wise- while I might save a little money, is it worth cancelling a previosuly made ticket? Also, I thought maybe there’s a way to get around the cancellation fee, or at least maybe minimize it.

Sorry if the question seemed irrelevant to everyone else.

tzip

Hi,
is the other way around available for this price?
how do i contact them to order?
Thanks
Tzip

Shlomo

Dan,
Does this ticket work from Israel,or only from Newyork?

tzip

hi
how do get this ticket?

r

cingular in crown heights has bluetooth headsets free AR
http://www.crownheights.info/ads1.php?itemid=9094

anon

If you have proof/doctors letter that you need to cancel the flight for on on medical emergency, you might get the fee waived or refunded. May vary.

Berel

WOOT! $50 mp3 for $16

Mendel

post a reminder for people to cancel the Citi Identity….

shosh

CAN I STAY LONGER IN MADRID ON EITHER PORTION OF THE TRIP? IF YES, HOW LONG OF A STAYOVER ?

mike

you know of any cheap flight for december time??

izzy

dan here is a link that u may want to put on the site.
https://www.belisi.com/neckties/91/neckties91.aspx?aun=hydra&acid=36578
for $7.95 u can get 3 ties. sounds like a pretty good deal

Daniel Hochman

Beware of that Tie deal izzy posted- it obligates you in further purchases and membership in some kind of club.

You may be able to cancel so it may be worth it, but just be careful.

Shlomo

Hi,
Can I fly to Israel and make my return flight for 3 months later?

S.B.S.

I mentioned here in the past about the THANK YOU reward points from Citi. They have a very interesting point system that with 20.000 points you can take any ticket on expedia which is 400 dollars or less (2 cents per dollar, not bad for a credit card). some info is available here:

http://www.expedia.com/daily/highlights/rewards/Thank-You-Network.asp?rfrr=-54454

i had 35000 points with them (it was my first credit card from citi) and i got a $390 dollar ticket for 20.000 points

Dan/Ctownbochur

SBS:
You neglect to mention some key factors about the Citi TY point/Expedia deal:
-It is only good for travel to the US48.
-I haven’t looked recently, but last time I checked there were many restrictions including 21 day advance purchase and Saturday night stay requirements.
-If it is over $400 you do not receive anywhere close to a 2% value.

Redeeming actual mileage for a US48 ticket is generally a very poor value, unless it is a last-minute ticket (which usually cost far more than $400)

All in all, I have found most real airline miles and Starpoints to be significantly more valuable and useable, but to each his own!

Dan/Ctownbochur

Case in point:
I randomly selected dates for a domestic trip that I might consider using miles for.
I tried to get from cleveland to los angeles for 11/29-12/04 with no more than 1 stop.


Expedia.com gives me a quote of:
Lowest stop flight: $538
Lowest stop flight on a decent airline: $734
Lowest non-stop flight: $832

Citi TY points gives me a quote of:
Lowest stop flight: 55,300
Lowest stop flight on a decent airline: 78,100
Lowest non-stop flight: 85,800


Continental wants just 25,000 miles for the non-stop.
AA also wants just 25,000 miles, which is just 20,000 Starpoints.


IĆ¢ā‚¬ā„¢m not sure why Citi TY isnĆ¢ā‚¬ā„¢t giving a 2 penny value for the first $400. IĆ¢ā‚¬ā„¢m assuming that itĆ¢ā‚¬ā„¢s because you need either a 14 or 21 day advance purchase to get the 2 penny value, which makes the whole program pretty worthless for me.

jack

I was looking at the Has Advantage visa platinum card – lets you fly on el al for 56,000 points round trip economy.
$1-1point
for those of us who don’t have time for stopovers and can’t book months in advance was wondering if it is a good deal. Any info would be helpful.

Dan, thanks for all the great tips.

Dan/Ctownbochur

Sounds OK, but it’s hard to tell without knowing availability and restrictions. If it’s good for the holidays that’s great, if it’s not then it’s probably worthless.


Generally speaking, I always try to aim for at least 3 cents value per airline mile or at least 5 cents value per starpoint.


In my above example, I would use 25,000 Continental miles to avoid paying $830 for the non-stop flight as that would net a value of over 3 cents per mile.

S.B.S.

It works as follows (I was sitting with a ThankYou guy for 45 min. getting this all to work), I did it today for a $390 dollar ticket from DTW-NYC for a holiday weekend.

1. You open a EXPEDIA account.
2. You refuse to link it with your existing THANKYOU account, and they give you a new THANKYOU account number.
3. You call THANKYOU and ask them to merge both accounts, and make the new account number the primary one.
4. Go to Expedia and search for a ticket that’s under $400 (before taxes, because you pay the taxes plus $5 booking fee)
5. Call ThankYou and ask them to search for those dates, and tell them which flights you want.
6. They will then (ONLY IF YOU HAVE AN EXPEDIA ACCOUNT WHICH IS LINKED TO YOUR ACCOUNT AS MENTIONED EARLIER) take 20000 points and charge you some taxes and a booking fee of $5 and give you a confirmation number for the airline.
7. Go to the airline website and print your boarding pass.
8. Enjoy!

A INTERESTING POINT TO MAKE IS: THE AIRLINE RECIEVES THE TICKET FROM EXPEDIA AS A FULLY PAID TICKET (THE RECEIPT SHOWS THE FULL PRICE) AND YOU EARN MILES ON IT.

If you go thru the website you get 1 cent per mile. but if you call them after doing these steps then you will be successful.

the link i mentioned earlier has some more info.

Dan/Ctownbochur

Well, that does make it slightly more intriguing…

I still have a couple questions though:
-How much tax did you have to pay? On a regular mileage ticket you only pay the $5 security fee.

-What are the advance purchase and saturday night stay requirements?

S.B.S.

I did not say that the Starwood Card isn’t better…

I only mentioned it for the sake of those who have those points (like me, who got that card as the first card from citi with 10.000 points bonus) and want to use it for something productive. those points have been sitting in my account for ages waiting for a good opportunity.

BTW, on the phone they say that it works in the US48, alaska and canada… didn’t verify that claim as i dont think there is any ticket going to alaska at 400 or less

Dan/Ctownbochur

OK then, I thought you were recommending TY points over Starpoints.


If you already have TY points, this definitely gives them more value than they used to have—and it also definitely separates Citi TY points from the pack of other mileage imitators like Capital One (which never lets you get a value of over 1%).


It just doesn’t put it into the same “unlimited value potential realm” that real miles and Starpoints carry.

S.B.S.

i paid the taxes and surcharges on the ticket (around 40 bucks) and the booking fees.

they didnt tell me anything about advance purchase or saturday night stay, they said that if expedia has the ticket – i can use it.

Anonymous

when will we be landing in tel aviv? and when is the return flight?

Dan/Ctownbochur

Please contact the advertiser for all flight related questions.

S.B.S.

To Jack,

That option may sound good, BUT: You don’t get a sign-up bonus, so you actually have to spend 56000 dollars to fly to israel, you might as well apply for a Starwood card, get the 10000 bonus miles, spend 30000 to get 30000 points and transfer those 40000 starwood points for 90000 lanpass kilometres which (together with the sign-up bonus of lanpass of 5000 kms) would give you a free ticket to israel with OnePass airline members. SPEND HALF AND GET THE SAME…

ALSO, this card seems to be a sleazy scam like the Capital One card, because they also give you the option of flying in the USA for 25000 points but the fine print says:

[b]For Standard Travel, the only requirement is a 21-day advance purchase with a Saturday night stay…

There are maximum dollar value levels for each redeemed ticket.[/b]

BASICALLY, I DON’T THINK IT IS SOMETHING WORTH.

jack

Thanks! I have a starwood (per your recommendation) with 100,000 points but just paid for a ticket with el al as I don’t have the time for a stopover.

aaron

are the credit cards on the homepage like sky miles and hilton worth to sign up 4 yo get miles and then you combine all your point toghether from those and starwood regular and bussiness and lan points and you have right there a flight to israel

aaron

when ever you say a free flight it means only one way cause on continental its 70,000 to israel each way

Dan/Ctownbochur

it’s 35,000 on continental each each way with restricted tickets and 70,000 each way on unrestricted.

chaim lipskar

there isnt a unresricted ticket available till next year.

Dan/Ctownbochur

What are you talking about?
I see plenty of 35K flights for December.

yankal

does anyone else have a problem using google checkout?
by me what happens is if I sign up with a new account with a new email address the purchase goes through with savings.
However later on I get an email saying it’s been canceled due
to me having made multiple accounts. This happens even with a brand new cc number!! I guess the only way the can know is by the mailing address, but what can I do about that?

Dan/Ctownbochur

How many Google checkout accounts have you opened?

aaron

dan can you answer my first question about signing up for the other credit cards to get points or is it better to sign up a few times to starwood and how to you look 4 unrestricted tickets thanks

yankal

I opened about 4 before it stopped working

RabbiWass

Yankal

The same thing happened to me last year after signing up a few times. It seems that their system has holes in it and some do not get rejected but those that do get rejected it is complete
RDW

mendel

hey dan…
please get rid of this ad… its so annoying and we never know if there is a good deal because we always have to scrooll down…

To Mendel

Are offering to donate the money that he receives for the ad?! Dan needs to make a few bucks too Mendel and this ad is helping him do that.

Dan/Ctownbochur

Mendel, if you want to be the charter member of a subscription paid, ad-free dansdeals.com, please let me know!

Otherwise, please patronage the ads that you find useful and ignore what you don’t!

Big Fan

Dan,

I’m looking to open a new credit card for my business, any suggestions?

Yehuda

Can anyone advise me as to when the best time would be to get tickets for Israel for next Succos? Am I better of buying now or do better deals come out as it gets closer? Ant help or recomendations would be appreciated.

anon

dan,
i got a financial review and canceled all 6 cards in my name
how do i know that everything is clear??

thanks for all your advice

Dan/Ctownbochur

Wait about 3 months after a F/R to reapply.

yebo

Man, its crazy how stupid and low people like mendel can fall.

Yehuda

My traveling dates are Thursday night after Yom Kippur 10/9/08 comming back on Sunday 10/26/07. Two years ago I got a deal with Air Canada for the same times for $900 per ticket. I know if I booked it now it will be at least $1400, more than I am willing to pay. If I left before Yom Kippur with a stop over I can get it in the $1100 range from Iberia. I am looking to go direct for give and take $1000, Will it get better if I wait?

AsherO

I want to be a premium member on DansDeals.com, where is the signup linky?

Big Fan

Dan,

Can you please give me a recommendation on a new credit card for a business?

scrable

Hey Dan, i think the time has come that pple are asking alot, such as recommendation, and that kinda stuff, so i think you can make a premium member site but how do you knwo you will cover the cost for a programmer to do the site? Well simple make an ad, that yoru offering such stuff as in advice and say what your plans are like, if 50 pple sign up the programmer will make forms to fill out for cc recommendations and for what to do with miles, if 100 pple sign up the programmer will then make more forms and you can charge a price per person that will fully cover the cost of the programmer and some cash in the pocket, in this you will be happy im sure and the pple will also, now how do you knwo you wont loose any thing cause if you dont have to many pple sign up you dont make it, now pple have all the ccs thy need so what can be in it for every one well some thing to get a text when a gr8 deal if posted and such stuff so if you want i can give you my email and i can help you out with this very much

Tanks Scarble

RabbiWass

I may have to go from PIT to LA on short notice for a funeral soetime in the ext couple of weeks. Any suggestions when the time comes on how i should go about finding a reasonable flight an fare?

RDW

yebo

What kind of rabbi are you? pray for the person to get better. dont plan his funeral

Eytan

Hey Dan,

Love your site. Is there any way to transfer AA miles into starwood points?

thanks

RabbiWass

yebo

It would not be fair to turn Dan’s site into a chat room so I won’t respond here but feel free to contact me (I’m easy to find) so we can discuss it.

RDW

RabbiWass

By the way Dan – as the ads grow (and why shouldn’t they?!) they may become a bit cumbersome and present a situation of diminishing returns. I would also seriously consider signing up for a premium membership should you consider experimenting with such a thing. Would we get a fancy card that says “Charter Member” ? šŸ™‚

anon

i actually like this ad a lot, it gives a place to ask questions without them getting lost as the post gets pushed down

S.B.S.

Yes. I agree with Anon 11:58am

Its great to have a post stuck on top, a so-called “discussion spot”.

Maybe it would be a good idea to have a post stickied with the date of apr. 2020, and it should be for discussions.

All other topics should discuss only whats presented

scrable

Dan, a gr8 idea, you have once made a discussion board, but pple dident want to go to another site for that, so how about make a post for it, like other say, and have a thing on htie side bar of the latest things on the board so pple dont have to go there to see it thy can just see on the main dansdeals page. You will need a programmer, but i do think that you can get a flat rate, for it, and raise money for it im sure pple will give, and then you can have a programmer do that for you. What do you think? Dan, im ready to help you out, im not a programmer but i can help get one for you, and take care of it all.

yaacov

anyone have a link for a ipod nano 3rd generation case?

tzip

do you know of any deal like this or similar from Tel Aviv to JFK?

Dan/Ctownbochur

S.B.S.

WordPress doesn’t publish a post with a future date.
It simply saves it until that time and publishes it at that point.

I’ll have to see if I can dig up a hack or plugin to allow for a true sticky post.

I’m not opposed to the idea of having a discussion thread stickied to the top of this site.

Anyone else care to chime in?

yaakov

I didnt realize you are using wordpress….dont they block out html code? How do you make the ads?

scrable

s.b.s. If you can explain me a bit better what you mean, then imight care to chime in.

scrable

Dan i mean you.

Other Guy

Yes, Great idea.
scrable your a little farmished and trying too hard to get involved. You already made it pretty clear you agree with S.B.S.

scrable

No, im just so confused, n whats going on here. Who is s.b.s. Cause it said Dan and s.b.s. in the same thing, so who is it?

Big Fan

Dan,

Is the AE Delta card a better card then the Gold Business card?

Can you please direct me as too which credit card to get for a business.

Other Guy

OK, Dan was responding to S.B.S.
To see what S.B.S. wrote check out four posts on top of that one… the one that YOU responded to and agreed with!

Dan/Ctownbochur

Big Fan:
Neither of those cards are great-I would go with the Starwood business card.
http://www.dansdeals.com/archives/2959

Big Fan

DAN,
The Business gold miles card gives me an unlimited amount of credit, as long as I pay it right away.
Also, can I use the Starwood points for any airline?

vrems

hey dan, ive been trying to sign up for the sero plan online and i dont have any problems till i get to the end when it asks to process my order. all i end up seeing is a blank white screen. i never get a confirmation in the mail showing that it went through. i wanted to know, would i still be able to do it on the phone if i tell them that i got this email address etc etc. and would it be honored or would they deny me?
help! thanx.

scrable

Well you will need to call to find out.
i don’t think Dan called for such a thing.
I wish you all the best, and try to use another computer and see what happens, Cause i don’t thin thy will proceed it twice.

izzie

Has anyone received their nano from Key Bank yet?

Dan/Ctownbochur

Big Fan:
There’s a common misconception that AMEX’s charge cards give an unlimited credit line.
They don’t.
The offer unlimited credit within your normal range of activity.
If you spent very little for a few months and then make some very large purchases it is likely to get rejected.

Additionally, AMEX points are not as valuable as Starwood points.

If you need more credit than 1 Starwood card gives you, just open up more AMEX credit card; the credit line can easily be reallocated between cards online.

Starwood points can be transfered to dozens of airlines at 20K:25K

Dan/Ctownbochur

vrems:
Have you tried using another browser?

uri

hey dan
mendel is kinda right…. the ad is getting really annoying.. please take it down

DJH345

Uri- Grow Up!

Hi Dan,

I got the Continental World MasterCard and my 20,000 miles posted šŸ™‚ . My first statement is due in a a week or so. What’s the best move at this point?

Should I call to cancel and see if I can get the annual fee waived or prorated?

Can they take the miles from my Onepass account if I do so?

I should have gotten the Business Card- the annual fee is free with it. If I get it after the fact, can I combine the credit lines of a consumer and a business card?

BN

Dan Thanks for everything.
Im thinking of getting a centro-I read everything u posted about it.Do you still like it?Should I go for it(I have now the KATANA)

scrable

Uri, who the hell are you, to say that, im ready to put down cash to have you blocked from coming to this site if possible. Your annoying.

Dan/Ctownbochur

DJH345:
The business card has the same annual fee as the consumer card, but it does have some different advantages:
http://www.dansdeals.com/archives/2825
You should probably wait until you get the miles before trying to cancel and wiggle out of the annual fee.

BN:
The centro is an amazing phone.

Scrable:
Lol, maybe instead of an ad supported site we could move to “ban” supported site.
(To date I’ve never used the ban feature, although some people have gotten pretty close!)

scrable

Wow i hope i never get close to that bn please if you you get the centro i have some but please contact me b4 i have a discount code for you. email ctownjr@gmail.com

DJH345

Thanks Dan- My 20,000 miles already posted. If I sign up for the Business Card or another Consumer card, can I combine the credit lines and then avoid the annual fee on the second card?
$85 for 40,000 miles is amazing so I wouldn’t mind paying the first.

Thanks for all the hard work you do- especially answering everyone’s individual questions!

scrable

Dan, i htink you need to run new ad but this time, make the first 2 posts, why do i say that? cause not to many pple realize the new ad, that it changed. we need a way to annoy ad haters.

syk

Dan, Maybe its time for a mobile freindly site?!

yitz

i wanna fly to israel with my wife at the end of january and i have plenty of amex points. which airline should i transfer to? i rather fly first class if possible?

thank you this site is great

halfshared

I just saw this GPS.

Do you think it is a good deal? IS there any other really good gps for a better price?

noochh

mac or pc?
and where can i i get a good deal on mac

Mat

Dan, or anyone else- is there a limit to the amount of google checkout accounts you can create?

Mordy

Dan, what do you think of the HAS Advantage card?
You know, the one that supports Israeli charities with some of the proceeds of the card?

They claim to have the best points program for redeeming tickets to Israel. I’ve had two people already try to sign me up.
I’m not into having lots of cards, and I’m working on rewards using a starwood card currently. What’s your opinion of the HAS card? Too gimmicky? worth a shot? Scam?

Other Guy

Dan!
Thanks for the post.
The only problem is that you need to scroll through 100 posts to find out whats new! Is there a way to leave new posts at the top like a forum? Or how about erase (or send to an “old posts” section)old posts past a certain amount of time…

Dan/Ctownbochur

DJH345:
I’m not sure if Chase lets you combine business and consumer cards. Try it out and let us know!

syk:
I honestly don’t know the first thing about creating a mobile-friendly site.
As it is now, it seems to work well on my palm centro.

yitz:
Check Continental’s reward availability. You may get better results by calling them up. They will probably be the best transfer option.

halfshared:
I hated the magellen gps units that I previously tried out. Additionally this one is refurbished which is never a good thing. (Especially because that fact invalidates the 90 day AMEX return privilege!)

If you want a really good GPS then splurge for any Garmin Nuvi with text-to-speech.

nooch:
I’m a PC guy, but to each his own. The only reason I dont post Mac deals is because there aren’t any!

Mat:
There’s no official limit. If you open too many in a short time limit then it will stop working for your ip+shipping address.

Mordy:
S.B.S. gave an excellent response to that very question in a comment up above:
http://www.dansdeals.com/archives/2911#comment-34105
In short it’s not worth it. (And S.B.S. and I are looking into some new avenues to Israel that will make it really not worth it!)

Other Guy:
Maybe what I should do is create a fresh discussion post every time the discussion reaches X amount of comments?

justshmooze.com

Matt: no limit till they catch you.
Mordy: I currently have a HASadvantage card. no problems yet šŸ™‚

loyal reader

I cant find any continental first class tickets for 100,000 points. How do u find them? I dont care when..am pretty open to go at any time..but I want first class with continental onepass for 100,000 return from ewr to tlv.
HELP!!!!!!!

Joel

whats the best credit card?

hesh

I’m looking to purchase a watch for someone (about $150) what brands are good.

danFan

i looove the starwood card joel, it is hands down the #1 card, thank you dan!
what about a visa?
any decent visas to get??

buzz

Hi. Do you know if World perks points,can be transfered out to a different points program ?( like choice hotels , or any other points program)

DJH345

“Other Guy:
Maybe what I should do is create a fresh discussion post every time the discussion reaches X amount of comments?”

Dan,
Would you like me to create a real forum that you can add to the site? You could have two sections- blog and forum.
It’s free and really easy. Plus, it’s alot nicer than this method.

Let me know.

Thanks,
Daniel

Mordy

NOOOOO! I waited for my son’s passport to go through, and I lost the cheap Israel tickets! They’re telling me the end of Jan. is now $900!! Anyone know any other cheap Israel deals?
šŸ™

Mendel

You wrote excellent tips on Israel. When you have a chance, can you do the next installment?

scrable

Get a mac the best thing is get a student discount, and some times you canget a ipod of $200 for free after rebate thats what pple do when thy can also im selling mine cause i want to upgrade to a mac book pro so mine is for sale. if you want it please post about it ill give yo my email. Thanks

ush

I have 100,000 Air Canada Aeroplan points is there any other reward program they can be switched to? i also have some AA points expiring next week i have signed up and used a new AA credit card but they wont credit the points for 8-10 weeks will this stop the points from expiring? if not what the easiest and cheapest way of generating activty on my account?

sen

does anyone know how to get the most out of my membership reward points for electronics or a gift card? can i sell or trade them

scrable

DAn, the next move is to ask who wants to give up time to respond to pples q’s give them an account that you will need to approve b4 thy comment goes thru, and most of all ill be first. When you have pple who say thy will do it rather then just do it i think its better pple will ask more often and then soon you can have that fee going.

scrable

Dan, i have a good forums site for you as well, rather then have this. What can that be? well simple a facebook group so go ahead and get facebook and im making the group now

aaron

hi i signed up for the citibank 5% cash back fro the first 3 months any suggestions how to get the most out of it, i have 10,000 credit limit thank tons

ShmuliT

Does anyone know of any cheap gadjet sites, with free international shipping, such as dealextreme.com and ledshoppe.com ?

DJH345

Facebook is a horrible idea. If anything, just setup a nice forum like FlyerTalk.

scrable

What’s wrong with Facebook?

scrable

Dan, you intend to post diferent stuff, every now and then, so check this out, http://www.techeblog.com/index.php/tech-gadget/windows-vista-windows-problem-reporting-has-stopped-working-

Twincities

Hey Dan,
thanks so much for the great website
just wanted to know, if you know anything about Navtel, gps on your phone?

DJH345

Why use something that’s not meant as a forum when you can use a real forum?

Dan/Ctownbochur

Joel:
http://www.dansdeals.com/archives/2959

Hesh:
I’m no watch expert, so I can only tell you that I like this Skagen that I got as a gift:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000C9ZBX?tag=ctownbochur-20
It’s actually a lot nicer looking in person than in the picture…

danFan :
Why do you need a visa?

buzz :
In general there are no good values for transferring airline miles. Continental to Amtrak is a rare exception.

DJH345 :
I tried a real forum last year. It flopped worse than Andy VarejƃĀ£o.

Mordy:
It seems like the Iberia deal should still be going.

Mendel:
It’s on the agenda…

r:
Seems to just be for yahoo mail?

twincities:
Haven’t used it yet.

L

When one is attempting to build their credit and get a credit card as a secondary on someones account, does it help at all for that person to spend or just having the credit card is enough to help build the credit?

danFan

because lots of places do NOT accept amex, so i always using my visa bank card!
which visa would be the est one?
is there an spg visa??

Moishe

danFan,
From what I have gathered reading Dan’s CC Posts – http://ctownbochur.blogspot.com/2006/11/credit-card-profile-3-american.html – and from personal experiance, the AAdvantage World Platinum MasterCard would be the next best Credit Card to use after the Starwood Amex. I think what Dan may have meant was why do you need a Visa especially and not a Master Card…

sen

to l
just gaving the card alone is good enough

scrable

OK, here it is, lets see who will use it, http://ctownforums.proboards89.com/
And DJH345, what’s wrong with the FaceBook Discussion Board
The problom with the forum from last year Dan, is that pple dont want to go to another site, but FaceBook, who ever has facebook will go online and check it out, more often.

DJH345

You can integrate this forum with the homepage here. Ie- list top 10 newest/updated threads and obviously create links between the two very often. If Dan would only answer questions there, it would force everyone away from the comments and we could have a real dynamic forum which would be awesome.

DJH345

Also, if you host the forum on your own, you can get rid of the ad that “proboards89” puts up (and put your own up šŸ™‚ ).

scrable

hi I’m updating dansdeals from my centro on the road. so let’s get to work dan you can host it all on myaccount, I have hosting for up to 10 domane names, dan I’ll put you in ill pay all the fees. please take my offer. Thnks

yaacov

what’s better the amex starwood business or the consumer??

scrable

Yaccov. the business, I can think is better, but cost more.Dan, email me at ctownjr@gmail.com. you know who I am.

Mendel

Dan, Thanks for having more Israel info on your agenda. Going to Israel in about 4 weeks so if you can do it before then… šŸ™‚
Meanwhile, in case I need to get another credit card, Which CC is best to use in Israel and would have the best exchange rate and least transaction/exchange fees?

G

If I already have a chase continental regular and business could I sign up for both again and then join both to the other card and still keep the miles or it would be considered like I canceled them and the mileage would vary by the CS rep?

yebo/stern

unless you have a card that gives you back more then 2% cash back, the best card for overseas is capital one as there is no foreign transaction fee.

DJH345

I hear that Dan, but maybe you should give it one more go. One way to force people out of their habits would be to close comments on the blog portion. Also, cross promotion between the two (ie- top 10 hottest threads listed on the blog, and 10 newest blog posts listed on the forums) could help.

But ultimately it comes down to you and what you think is best for your site. And since you know your clientƃĀØle the best, I trust your decision.

-Daniel

jay

does it pay to open up a continental business card now?
what are my options

c.h

any deals to fly to sa

Eli

I have a capital one card which i never use how does it affect my credit score should i cancel it or it wont affect anything and does the fact that it was my 1st cc that i got make a difference thanx alot

Other Guy

Eli
As long as there are no fees keep the card. That card is your credit history.

ch
I assume you mean South Africa but I think you need to be more clear.
Dan is not a travel agent. Many guys here drive him crazy about asking for cheap flights here or there, please call your local travel agent for all your travel needs.

ANONYMOUS

any deals on the new apple IPOD’s and is this a good time to get one,I know a friend who bought an ipod nano for $250 and than 3 weeks later they came out with the knew one for $200 (plus better features) but the return policy was only for 2 weeks?

yebo/stern

To anonymus. thats why dan allways recommends buying from amazon. Dan, I got the $250 for opening the chase freedom card, can I earn the $50 when reapplying? How many cards of that can I have?

aaron

can someone please help me make the most from my 5% money back citi card i’m running out of time

Eli

Dan or Other Guy i have 3 other cards that i use frequently its just that the capital 1 is my 1st and i have the longest standing history on it but it hasnt been used in about 2 years and it has my lowest limit the question is if canceling it would show my credit history only from the card that i got later etc. Thanx 4 replying

yebo/stern

eli. Leave the card open its amazing for your history even if you dont use it.

Chaim

Whats the minimum amount of Starpoints you can transfer to an airline?

Other Guy

Eli:
If theres no high fees keep it open you have nothing to lose and lots to gain.
When you close your first CC you are erasing part of your credit history.

Scarble

Dan here it is. We need to get some one to program the coment number part to the side bar so pple can see if there are any new ones, and thy can click it and see, so this way you dont need to stick this post any where, besides all we talk about in this, is all about what to do with it, so lets stop here, and now. just kidding.

moish g.

whats the best way to use amex membership reward points?

Moishe

regarding AA with elal:
so should i get a crdit card with AA mileage program (which is not worth it usually) and earn points on AA and use it to fly elal?
how many miles for a free ticket (1400 elal points)?
and how many for first class?
i`m sure everyone would like to know …..

skinfarrock

I am looking for all brand name electronics particularly: ipod 80-160gb, ex-hd’s, laptops and cameras in bulk. Do u or anyone know a reliable site, vender or stam store to get electronics in bulk 4 cheep particularly ipods.
SKOYACH!
shmeeely.

Anonymous

Dan I just got a financial review from AMex. You write to cance the cards right away but what do I do about the expenses that are on the card already

aaron

i signed up 4 the continental credit card for the 20000 points and chase called me to see if i got my card and they offered me to sign up for the business credit card and they will give me another 15000 points and they waived the 65 dollars first year fee so maybe try it out

DJH345

I just called Chase to try and get the Annual Fee waived for the World Mastercard (20,000 miles) and it worked šŸ™‚ !!

Thanks Dan!

If I order another card and transfer the credit to this account which just got the fee waived, will it avoid the fee for the second card?

stern

I do have just been hit with the amex review all 10 of my account are frozen. Im freacking out as I have charges under dispute as well as insurance claims i would like to file for items purchased less then 90 days ago. please advise.

justshmooze.com

Ive heard you say that there is a starwood amex that is supposed to be very easy to get, even with a low credit score (im 18). what would i have to do? which card is it? I had citi watching my credit report, and it says that i have an account that opened; just in the past month. Im guessing that this is the credit card i opened a month ago? Does that mean that I could not open a new card?

Im sorry for all the questions.

BN

was wondering how can I have a heads up before my first year fee free for credit cards are up

need a new notebook asap

hey dan thanks for all ur amazing deals u have made me lot of money and u have gotin me quite a few free flights and other stuff so i am turning to u for help in finding a new notebook if u have any deals or codes or advice it would be amazing thanks a ton avid fan and reader and supporter

Zc

A friend of mine on shlichus in Canada got in real trouble with his cell phone. He doesn’t speak a good English didn’t understand how to deal with things and was paying over $600 a month for his cell phone. He owed 3 months, they wanted to close account. I let him charge it to my amex and now I disputed the charge which was almost $2,ooo US. I now know he could get a verizon account for $100 which will work in CANADA too. Aside for Rogers closing down his cell plan,Would he get in trouble if I said that this was an unauthorized charge?

mendy

where is the cheapest place to bay a ipod touch 8 gig

Shira

Looking for a lap top in the $500 can anyone help? Do you think after christmas I will get a better deal

Bochur

I purchased a speaker system from buy.com today. It had $80 in rebates. However now when i go to the same link it doesn’t have the rebate form next to the item anymore. Does that mean that they will give me problems with the rebate? Also, is Pixxo a company which normally sends you the rebate or are they going to scam me?
This is the link for the speaker system:

levi

dan, i currently have 93 jet blue credits i closed all my amex card due to a financial review, i would like to get another 7 credits so i can have a free ticket any suggestions how? and also approx how long should i give it from when i shut down my accounts until i reopen them? and was is the process for for reopening? thanks

justshmooze.com

thanks a lot. Do you have a link to the starwood card signup thingy?

ys

dan, this whole discussion thing is a really good idea but it’s a real pain so track whats going on, why don’t you set up a official forum as a supplement to ctowndeals? it’s pretty simple – there are alot of free ones out there….

simple

what is a transfer fee? ie which cc charges the one that the $ is being trnsferd onto or the other one?

mmr

How is Office depot policy on Lap top computers?
Is better to buy from Dell or from Office depot
How is Levono? there is a great deal at office depot for 625
What is your opinion of it?

CITI

CITI IDENTITY PROTECTOR — JUST CALLED TO CANCEL, THEY PUT THE RATE TO 6.95 and gave me a $30 gift card!!

Dan/Ctownbochur

Bochur:
The rebate forms are still there for me. Rebates generally come if you comply with the conditions. If it doesnt come you can always file a chargeback.

levi:
I recommend a 3 month wait after a F/R. After that time go ahead and open up a new Jetblue card to get your free ticket.

Justshmmoze:
The best Starwood signup links can be found right at the top of this site!

simple:
A balance transfer fee is when you transfer the outstanding balance from one card to another.
mmr:
I like buying online because you get to choose the exact compnents that you want.
What are the specs on the Lenovo?

Schneur

Hey Dan a happy Chanukah from a loyal fan. Quick question, can you make a post about the Amex financial review?
I think this would benefit a lot of people.
What I mean is like why would they target you? What do you have to do in regards to how many cards amount of balances on them and credit limits.
By the way the online reallocation of credit by amex is awesome!
Ok now that I have written all that I thought of another question.
My oldest credit card is from chase with a decent credit limit; the only problem is their interest rates are horrible and I have no rewards with this card. Could I open a new chase cc that would be good for me, like rewards and no annual fee, and then transfer my balance to the new one but retain length for credit history?
Thanks a lot for everything!!

r

Dan,
You definitely need a forum.
this thread is impossible to follow as it is and it will only get worse…
as previous poster mentioned, the two can be integrated, visitors dont need to go to two seperate sites…

SHLOMO

Office Depot has Compaq Presario F730US 15.4″ Widescreen Notebook Computer With AMD AthlonĆ¢ā€žĀ¢ 64 X2 Processor TK-55, for 449 after mail in rebates all the stores are sold out but you can still get it online. I bought a similar item a year ago and got back all the rebate checks. Circuit City has this model in stock for 630 minus 30 mail in rebate. Can someone who understands the specs please advise if this is a good deal! Thanks

stern

Dan i did as you said. when I called the rep at amex review department she said she was closing all my account. I asked her to hold on Im going to call her right back and then quicly called cs and closed all of my 13 accounts. I even managed to save some uncleared points b4 that. My question is how long to wait b4 reapplying and can I just reopen the accounts that were closed??

Scarble

Shlomo, it’s not worth it, with Windows Vista you want to get at least 2gb ram, but if you want to buy the extra ram your self and add it on, it’s worth it.
If you do want good Graphics, You might want to get a Laptop with a dedicated Graphics card, but if your just using it for internet, and basics you dont need it unless yo like to watch alot of movies it might be better to get the dedicated on, which is not worth it to add later on.
If you do want, you can buy a HP, with this coupon NB3075, that will get you 30% off from $999 or more so then you can get a gr8 laptop for just $700, with a dedicated graphics card, a bigger hard drive, and gr8 ram, and much more.
If you will like to go with the HP one, i can help you configure a good laptop or desktop.

eli

Stern>>>

eli

IS the Compaq for 449 from Office Depot a good deal?

mmr

The Lenovo L3000 Y410 includes:

* 14.1″-diagonal WXGA (1280 x 800) glossy TFT LCD screen
* Intel Core 2 Duo processor T5450 operating at 1.66GHz
* 2MB L2 cache
* Up to 667MHz frontside bus
* 2.0GB of PC2-5300 DDR2 SDRAM memory
* Maximum memory capacity: 4.0GB (Available system memory will be considerably less than this amount and will vary by model and system configuration. This is due to the use of shared video memory and operating system limits.)
* 160GB 5400-rpm Serial ATA (SATA) hard drive
* DVDƂĀ±RW drive with Double Layer support (reads/writes DVDƂĀ±R/RW, DVD+R Double Layer, CD-R/RW)
* Intel Pro/Wireless 3945ABG (802.11a/b/g) wireless LAN
* 10/100Base-T Ethernet network interface
* 56K V.92 modem
* 3 USB 2.0 ports
* 1 FireWire (IEEE 1394) port
* 1 S-video out port
* Integrated 1.3-megapixel camera
* 1 ExpressCard expansion slot
* Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100 with up to 256MB shared memory
* Azalia AC ’97 audio with 2 stereo speakers and subwoofer, with Dolby Home Theater
* Microphone input jack, headphone output jack
* 6-cell lithium-ion battery, for up to 4 hours of battery life
* Dimensions: 1 7/16″H x 13 3/10″W x 9 9/10″D
* Weight: 5.2 lbs

stern

I would like to disagree with some of the commentors here. this forum is fine as you just need to scroll down to the bottom of the page to be up to date with new questions and answers. SCHNEUR: the reason I was targted with a financial review is beacuse about 5 weeks ago I made a payment which was revered due to a lack of funding. This is pretty pathetic that my accounts had to be closed due to this as the next day I put the right amount of money

shlomo

thanks scarble I am really looking to spend cheap so I wanted to know in that pricerange if I am getting a good deal. I use my computer just for internet.

juniorbochur

SYK this post is posted from my mobile phone. just go to enter url and put in dansdeals.com. I have a razr2

Shmuli

Hi Dan,

I was in Macy’s yesterday and bought a bunch of clothes. I was expecting to open up a Macy’s account, and get discounts (15% for opening a new account plus 20% as I borrowed a coupon), but I was told that they would send me a letter telling me if I am approved. After that, I would have to go to Macy’s and they would credit my account the 20% and 10%.

I called today and they didn’t approve me. I’m wondering if there is a way to be approved, or to put the clothes on someone else’s Macy’s account without having to take all the clothes back, return them and buy them again.

Thanks

Scarble

Shlomo, next week there will be a good laptop with a 2gb ram, at circuit city its a pretty good one, but if you will get the cheaper one what you showed me then i will show you some thing for less, then that and maybe even better but i dont think you want to take that chance with Vista.

You can email me for more info, Ctownjr@gmail.com

ollie

does it make sense that I got something in the mail from mastercard regarding a settlement over a lawsuit on finance charges from overseas spending… I need to look over it and see if it’s a marketing gimick, scam or ligitimate… has anyone else gotten it? I do a lot of overseas spending so it seemed real, now I just have to find it again…

minn

i have a nwa flight that i can not make- my schedule changed. is there ANY way that i can get the miles w/o actually flying? Will printing my boarding pass do it? any way to salvage the ticket? (it is a $60 ticket, to change it would be $75) . Please advise.

ollie

also, I transfered lots of points to LAN as Dan recommended some time ago but I forgot what to do with them now…I’m looking to go to Israel sometime soon.
thanks all.

levi

9,999 continental miles for a budget rental of 5 consecutive days booking throough continental.com

juniorbochur

any links for cheap centro. I saw on ebay for 275.

juniorbochur

hey dan do u know anything about ebay mystery auctions. do u think its a worthwhile business to get into?

anon

Ollie- I also got that letter. Seems legit. Need to look further into it.

Scarble
Moishe

Ollie,
I myself received the same letter in the mail as well as a few of my friends (all of us spent overseas) and I believe it is real.

Schneur,

You absolutely can open another chase CC and then transfer the credit line from your old card to the new one and keep you old card running with all the credit history you have achieved. I just did it myself…

Dan has already written a post on the topic of Financial Review:

http://www.dansdeals.com/index.php?s=financial+review

Dan,

The only part I have a question about is if I did not manage to shut down my account before they did then how long will I have to wait to reapply? Your suggestion to wait 3 months seemed to be only if you were able to shut down the account before they did. Personally it has been more then 3 months for me and I just reapplied and was declined! Any ideas other then just to wait longer? Also, if I am not using the Starwood Amex then what is the next best card to use for Miles (other then the AAdvantage)?

Moishe

Dan,

I just wanted to mention that I have received all 3 Credit Reports since my Starwood card was canceled and all that is on the reports is that “the account was closed by credit granter” and the like… There is a section on reports that is personalized that explains the different factors that have a positive or negative effect on the score and the fact that I had a card “closed by credit granter” has never shown up there as a negative!

Mendel

I was wondering if you (or anyone else) knows how to get out of a cingular contract. I cant get out untill september but i would like to get the sero plan for a centro, im on a family plan if that makes a diffrence in any way.

anon

Is there any way to reassign.a IP address. (For google checkout purposes)? will it affect my internet account?

Bochur

How do i file a chargeback??

had it

What exactly do I need to check,to know if it’s worth to transfer balances.Also does canceling a CC ruin my credit in any sort of way? And finally does my balance have to be clear in order to cancel my CC. Toda Raba

fureel

What is a credit report? & do I ever need one?

Scarble

Mendel, there are many ways, there is a comen way to do it, whivh you need to make 51% f your mins roaming for 3 months, then thy will take you off, Dan has also posted another way to get out, which is by posting your plan on another website, and have some one take over your plan, now both of the 2 ways i posted, can take a bit of time to get off, but there is another way that you can try, and it might be a bit hard.
I don’t knwo where you are form but im from ch, so as you knwo most pple go upstate for the summer, so now you can tell them your moving there, give them a zip code like 12701, now thy are supposed to ask you for proof such as a bill, with the address upstate, well if thy do , then just start asking random stuff and hang up you try a few times thy will not make you send proof it worked gr8 for me and every one one my sprint plan, i have over 10 lines now with unlimited mins from sprint, if you want a family plan for as cheap as sero plans email me at ctownjr@gmail.com.

Shlomo

Hey Dan,
I’m looking to get a new credit card. Do you recommend starwood over the USAA American express card?
Shlomo

Big Fan

Dan,
Can I open a starwood cc in my wife’s name and link the starwood points with my account?

levi

big fan, yes you can just make sure both accounts have the same adress

levi

shlomo, the starwood card is the best card

levi

had it, check the balance transfer fee and the apr on the amount transfered. its definitely not good for your credit to cancel accounts better to just not use them. you balance does not have to be clear to cancel

Meshilem Zev

how does AA transfer points work with EL AL (dan had mentioned that they partners or so…)

Mendy

Hi! I flew El Al a number of times over a year ago and for some reason my application for a milage card didn’t work. Is there any chance that I can still get the milage points?

Sorry for the am aratzis.

jack

I am planning my vacation and was wondering if anyone has a really great itinerary for CA or Hawaii? Any tips on the areas or any other suggestions for great place to visit – warm weather a must!

levi

dave, you second Q answered you first, no it will not hurt your credit

levi

jack, I have been in CA many times for vacation feel free to email me, hartfordapartments@yahoo.com

Mendel

Citibank is dropping a great benefit (which I used in the past) this is a copy from my statement

Please be advised that the Luggage Express Platinum card benefit is no longer
available.

ollie

dan, do you know anything about the flyclear card – goes through security quicker etc. for jfk and some other airlines.
let me know if you do…thanks!

levi

When you apply for the same cc more then once and you get the sign up bonus for each time you apply

hocker

Does anyone know how to unlock phones- i have a SonyEricsson (FIDO) and a PAntech (AT&T) that i’d like to unlock to use in israel, Are there any reliable websites with free unlock codes?

Scarble

Unlock codes, mostly work on Nokia Phones only, you might need to go to a store and pay them, thy use other stuff, not codez, sry for the sad news, if i do come across any codes if there is such a thing for other kinda phones, ill let you know.

Efrayim

If you have an account with at&t you could tell them your going overseas and they’ll email you the code a day or two later even if you don’t have an account ask someone you know to do it for you all they’ll ask for is the imei number i have done it many times.

Scarble

Efy thanks on the update i will try it out.

balance transfer

i’m looking for a credit card with a low fixed apr for life to transfer some stuff too. any ideas of a card without a balance transfer fee? thanks.

Other Guy

Dan, Please repost this or put something on top or something. This post was a great idea…

šŸ™

Joel

Dear Dan,

This might not be the place for it but i chose to thank you in public rather then in private email, 2 years ago i had a very poor credit and couldn’t get approved for anything and thanx to Dans legacy and recommendations my credit score was boosted up to “743” and i haven’t had any problems with car leasing credit cards ect. Thank You for making me a better me.

Sobo

What does it mean when my cc says I’m charged 19.24% for purchased apr & 23.24% for cash apr?
And is that generally conciderd a high interest rate? ie. are there alot of cc’s that are cheaper?
Thanx

Scarble

Well there are many cc that are cheaper, you can get alot for about 9.99% APR, and i think the cash APR is if you take out cash from it like at a ATM if you can and that type of stuff.
Please correct me if im wrong.

Scarble

Dan, when will this fly up, no1 is really looking at this any more, and pple are doing the wrong things by not getting others advice, from this chat room.
Dan, what do you think of a live chat room?

justshmooze.com

whos gonna be sitting there waiting in the chat room?
you have a (whole) lot of viewers, but how many do you think at the same time?

Scarble

well, i will be there most the time and there are time of the day that there is a lot of traffic on the site, like after work, you can have 10 pple in it, and then if pple like it thy will come more often.
Maybe lets get pple to sign up for meebo and we can have a chat room there!!!!!!!!!!!

levi

my experience with mobile boarding pass.
i had my boarding pass emailed to my blackberry when i got to security they scanned the barcode on the screen of my phone and i went through no problem when i got to the gate to board the plane they tried scanning it a few times and it did not scan so they printed one out for me. i was told that due to the fact that this is all new it will take time to work perfect. i will post agian next week and let eveyone know how it works out

ben

whats the deal with sprints “Pick 3” have you tried to get it? people on sprintusers have gotten it even with SERO

http://www.sprintusers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=142733

Big Fan

How does the Capital One cc compare to the starwood?

levi

confused, No
bigfan, they are not compareable

confused

levi, I just tried to apply but was declined because “(paraphrase)our records indicate that you have already applied recently for this card…

Other Guy

confused
How recently?

levi

confused, i’m not sure then i know by me i applied for the second time while my first card was still opened

confused

OTHER GUY,
Just yesterday

please help

Dear Dan,
i used to accumulate delta miles from an amex skymiles card. even though i dont have the credit card anymore, i still have the 200,000 skymiles.

My question is, being that i hate delta skymiles (i can never find flights with the skysaver) is there any way i can transfer these miles to some other worthwhile program?

thanx

AsherO

Please Help:

Are you interested in selling those miles? If you are, email me at YouDontNeed2KnowMyEmailAddress at gmail dot com.

AsherO

Other Guy

confused
I meant how long did you wait before reapplying? if you do it too quickly you will be declined.

wpDiscuz