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You want to know my least favorite thing in the world? The dinner bill. It’s written evidence of the frivolous, gluttonous decisions you made, and they give you a copy to take home to remind yourself about it later! That’s why I never take my copy of the check home with me; not because I don’t think the restaurant will accidentally over-charge me and I have to prove it to my bank, but instead because I don’t need any reason to hate myself any more than I already do and looking at the receipts from brunch is not doing me any favors.
And don’t even get me started on splitting dinner bills. What a fiasco. Remember in the dark ages before Venmo when your cheap prick friends would say something to the effect of “you got one more beer than me, and she didn’t have any of those nachos, so write how much you think you owe on the back of the bill with your name and last four digits of your credit card.” Shoot. Me. In. The Temple. I could never handle that; I always would just drop my card on the table, tell someone to “figure it out for me” and then storm off into the bathroom to look at the sports scores on my phone.
But then, two major things happened. One, Venmo was invented so you could easily make up for having the more expensive meal by evening out the payments with Venmo money which, in my mind, is faker than Monopoly money. And the other thing that happened was we all started to make a bit more money and basically realized it all evens out in the end, so let’s just all throw our card in the middle and split the bill. I didn’t have the second glass of wine? It’s fine, I’m sure it was just an off-night for me and I’ll have one more glass than you all the next time we go out.
With my friends, this phase lasted maybe the last two or so years. We were making some money, we had Venmo, and we were all wayyyy too buzzed to figure out how much we each individually owed, especially when the dinner bills looked like when the rookies have to take the whole offensive line to dinner at Peter Luger’s. Just drop the cards and split.
Welp, I’m going to tell you why this whole putting a million credit cards in the middle and splitting mumbo jumbo ceased to exist. My friends and I have all become obsessed with credit card points. Literally can’t get enough points. We still split the bills, but someone always is trying to put the whole tab on their card and then send the Venmo requests out later. And it’s getting a little out of hand.
Whenever we get a bill it becomes a mad dash to get your card into the little book they give you. Limbs flying everywhere, bodies scrambling across the table. Someone will scream at the top of their lungs “DADDY WANTS THE POINTS!”
It gotten to the point where we’d be in line at Starbs, I’d ask what everyone was getting, then when it was my turn to order my drink, I’d order for the whole group just for the points. Things were getting out of hand. So we instituted a system. If you got the points at a meal the last time, you’re out of the running for points at this meal. You take the bill and see the total. Then everyone else guesses the check total. Closest wins and gets the points.
Things are simpler when there’s no bitching about money between friends. Triple points on travel? I got this cab. You’ll get the next one. Is it all going to even out? Probably, yeah. We’ll all get our share of the points, and pretty soon our embarrassment of riches in travel points is going to take us all to Europe on Chase Sapphire’s dime..
Image via Shutterstock
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Boston Max
Spending my retirement fund at Trader Joe's and trying to remember to check my mailbox semi-regularly
@BostonMaxG
@boston_maxg
All about that metal Chase Sapphire Reserve life.
100% yes. I get so many compliments on how nice the card is
oh bby that card is so nice, you should use it some more on me.
If you guys think this card looks nice, check out Chase’s Ritz Carlton card. That’s pure metal and it makes the Reserve look like a plastic piece of crap. You also get 3 free Ritz Carlton nights with it, and you can avoid the annual fee by lowering your credit limit to $1,500.
oh shit that looks amazing too. brb opening like 5 lines of credit with all chase cards
This is a thing people do, just churn credit card/bank account bonuses. Go look at the subreddit churning for a little bit of insight.
This is me. I currently have 19 credit cards open
Name checks out
I have over 750,000 points in various programs. I could cash out for like nine grand or I my girlfriend and I can travel for free for the next few years. And my credit score has improved.
Improved as in going from 600 to 610?
More details on that ritz card fee…how do I do that?
Be careful with opening tons of cards/lowering your credit limits – your score could take a hit based on lowering average account ages, increased credit inquiries, and using higher % of available credit. Spending $1,250 out of a $1,500 limit dings you
There’s a law that says that if a card charges an annual fee, that fee can’t be more than 25% of the credit limit. Otherwise, your first year’s fee is waived. Most cards get around this by having minimum credit limits that are above the 4x fee threshold. The Ritz isn’t one of them (as far as I know, I opened mine like 6 months ago). All you have to do once you get it is call Chase and transfer your limit to another card. Then either your fee will get refunded or you won’t be charged.
Sure it isn’t just waived for the 1st year? I know my SW, AA, and United cards wave the fee the first year.
Paid for multiple flights home, a boys trip to vegas, and a golf vacation with the sign up bonus. Bless the reserve and its beauty
The new metal amex platinum is sweet too.
Got the Sapphire Reserve after realizing that I spend a disproportionate amount of my money at bars/restaurants and needed those triple points. Also, having a metal credit card is very on brand for members of #DCOnation.
The airport lounge access that comes with the Chase Sapphire is so awesome. Drank free Heinekens at IAH for 2 hours while my flight was delayed
Feel sorry for the peasants that didn’t get the 100,000 point offer before it expired.
Better solution: credit card roulette.
Credit card roulette has its time and place. It usually takes place in my group when all the boys are back in town and group morale is at a peak. Plus cc roulette should only be used on shots/drinks, not someones dinner.
I’m not sure why you’re getting downvoted here. I’m a big fan of the ‘lette.
I can’t remember the last time I’ve used my debit card and the only time I pay in cash is at places that don’t take credit. I love my Chase Sapphire Reserve. Seeing those 3x points for food and travel purchases stack up is awesome. Definitely worth the $450 annual fee
Plus with the $300 in travel credits/year it’s really only $150, and the perks are amazing.
That 100,000 point sign up bonus was amazing too
it’s only 50k points bonus right now unfortunately
Plus you can double dip with that travel credit and get two years worth before downgrading/cancelling if you choose to since it resets on the 1st of the year
#CSPO
(Chase Sapphire Preferred Only)
I think everyone on this thread got the CSP lol. Trips to Houston, NYC, and Barbados all free this year!
Sapphire preferred/reserve sign up bonuses got me into the game, never looking back now. DoctorOfCredit.com is a great resource for more info on best card/bank accounts available now. Also give a great breakdown of bonuses available if you are looking for a new card.
First question I asked at every apartment we looked at, “do you take Amex?” I’m not paying with direct deposit like a chump.
Out of curiosity (always used direct deposit, myself), are you paying an additional transaction fee since you pay with card? direct deposit is free whereas card payments carry processing fees… does that cancel out, if not outweigh, the rewards benefits?
I was wondering the same thing. My complex charges a hefty fee to pay rent with a card making it not even worth it.
Exactly. I’d rather keep the cold hard cash than get tied up in rewards anyway. Unless you’re trying to hit the monster intro bonuses on a new card, can’t see this being worth it
I’m on that American Express Gold Premier Rewards Card life.
Great card but couldn’t pass up the 100k on the reserve
Love using my cash back card for everything but theres something about seeing thousands of dollars on a statement that scares the crap out of me.
Download the apps or go online and pay your bill off weekly or whenever you make a major purchase. This will keep your line of credit optimal, maximizing your debt/credit ratio and therefore your credit score.
I just pay mine off bi-weekly on my payday. Puts me at ease in case some emergency came up that I would need cash/check for.
I live that cash back life, but the idea is the same. Put every single thing I can on the card.
Manufacture Spending. You will never pay for a flight or a hotel ever again.