Airmiles Armchair Chatter



Morning update.....
DD and her cast are currently on the plane (delayed and looks like still sitting of the ground). They were picked up at 2:45am to go the airport for a 6am flight. They opted to just stay up all night and sleep on the plane. LOL...they've got crying babies on the plane. DD had a crying, kicking baby right behind her. Fortunately, she was able to move. Since the flight was still sitting on the ground at 7am they tried to get themselves in the virtual que for Gardians. ...don't know what happened with that. Yes, they are spending the day in the parks. The morning was not without some drama....DD's bag was overweight but someone else was a little under so they shuffled things around. Someone else forgot their passport at the condo and had to go back...but made the flight. I guess that is the only good thing about a 6am flight, no traffic. DD's roommate got grilled at US immigration and had to pull out ever single work document she had. DD was right beside her and was asked nothing. BTW, she said there were no lines at security and immigration. She used WDW lingo and said it was a 'walk on'.

Tomorrow, they have another very early start. I think she said 5:45am pick up to go to the port.
 


Love the daily posts. Thank you for keeping us in the loop of the life of a Disney Cast Member.

but wait, there's more.....

MCO shenanigans.....luggage came out on a different carousel as to what they were told and what was posted. I've had that happen at MCO as well and those have been the times that bags took 45 minutes to even start coming out. DD's bag was the very last to come out and she was freaking out thinking that it was not there. When they phoned for their shuttle and went to the pick up point. There were some other people out there and asked if they were in the right place for that particular hotel....DD's group says yes. The hotel sent a huge van to pick up her group and the driver gets out and says where is the Disney group of 10. The other people waiting got upset but it turns out they had never called the hotel for a pickup. DD also said the other people were making remarks about why this group had so much luggage. I laughed....think about it, a group of 10 is going to have a lot of bags regardless of how long they are traveling for. They actually could have had more....they each had a large checked bag, a carry on and a backpack. DD was the only one in the group that did not have to pack for 5 weeks. So yep, they had a lot of stuff.

When they got to the hotel they asked the driver where they could have their luggage locked up until the rooms were ready. He said, leave it all with me. They go check in but no rooms ready.....they were hoping for just one but nope. Someone needed to get back into a bag, they go to do that and some other person is dealing with the luggage room, asks them for bag tags...guess what no one has any. They then have to deal with that....pulled all the bags back out and got them tagged.

After all that excitement the group split up. Some went to Epcot and some went to Kona Cafe for lunch. They met up later at Epcot. They did get a boarding group for Guardians....DD's was at the time they were still at the airport but the other half of the group got one for the afternoon. Well, didn't they luck out and everyone got to ride. She said it was AMAZING! ....but I wouldn't know :sad2:
 
I have been maximizing the bonus 15x airmiles this week. I have been doing a lot of shopping online at Chapters so first I buy the gift card and earn airmiles then after I receive the digital gift card I go back in and use it for my purchases. Bonus double dipping.
I think I have made 3 purchases that way this week so now not only do I earn the basic miles, I earn the bonus miles and the bonus bonus 10x miles. This is my start the car moment.
 
I have a 50am on $100 air mile shop spend. I have to return one of the items in my order and buy a different version. Is there a way to do this without losing the miles? Thxs
 
I have a 50am on $100 air mile shop spend. I have to return one of the items in my order and buy a different version. Is there a way to do this without losing the miles? Thxs
That answer is a big "depends" I've had miles clawed back and miles left alone. What I tend to do if possible is hold onto the item I want to return until the return window has almost closed and if I'm able to I'll return it to a brick and mortar location instead of sending it back. Staples used to claw them back within moments of the transaction happening (When they still had a store presence) Amazon is hit and miss, The Bay never caused a problem. I would be going into this scenario fully expecting the miles to vanish from my account - you know, low expectations to limit disappointment.

Sorry for not being much help, but I'm in a rip the bandaid off mode today :P
 
That answer is a big "depends" I've had miles clawed back and miles left alone. What I tend to do if possible is hold onto the item I want to return until the return window has almost closed and if I'm able to I'll return it to a brick and mortar location instead of sending it back. Staples used to claw them back within moments of the transaction happening (When they still had a store presence) Amazon is hit and miss, The Bay never caused a problem. I would be going into this scenario fully expecting the miles to vanish from my account - you know, low expectations to limit disappointment.

Sorry for not being much help, but I'm in a rip the bandaid off mode today :P
My experience on that is that most of the time the miles are clawed back. I'm a chronic online shopper-returner.
 
Update time....
Yesterday started with a 5:45am pick up at the hotel. The above pic was while all the new crew were lined up awaiting the sniff of the dogs. She said it was a little scary. The theme of the day actually was....I'm nervous, I don't know what's going on and I'm not sure how I feel about any of this. These sorts of new things kick in the anxiety. The day was mainly spent sitting in meetings learning about rules/regulations etc. She has the same roommate that she had in TO and they are living in an inside cabin. They have an accessible cabin so she said the bathroom is large but the bed situation is not the best. They have one bed and a pullout but the pullout is a single and smaller than a normal single. DD has the single for now but they will trade off later. They have free unlimited use of IMessage and What's App. They get free WiFi while in port. DD now understands why they are so picky about clothing and also why the other crew pretty much dislike the performers. Performers live like guests. They are allowed in all guest areas and even dine with the guests. I don't know what's on deck 11 but that's where they went for dinner last night. Then they did some exploring. One thing she commented on several times was the motion....she didn't like it. She also said she looked over the side at the water and didn't like that either. On the upside she said she can't wait to send me pics of the ship...."it's STUNNING".
 
I’m browsing Indigo. Trying to finish Christmas shopping. How do you buy a gift card in order to double dip on the miles? Is that still a thing?
Yup still a thing. I earned mega miles this week doing that
I put stuff I want in my cart to figure out how much gift card money I need then move it to the save for later.
Then I buy an electronic gift card for around the value but remember that for example a $100 gift card only earns 4 miles not 5. You have to put in a recipient name and email but you can use your own, purchase then you wait the 2 hours or so for them to send it to you so don't wait until too late tonight to buy.
Once you get the gift card go back and put everything back into your cart and input the gift card number and pin when you get to the pay area. If you bought a gift card for more than you needed it just stays on the gift card and you can use the rest later.
You earn air miles for both purchases but only reward points on the real item purchases.
I know long post.
 
Yup still a thing. I earned mega miles this week doing that
I put stuff I want in my cart to figure out how much gift card money I need then move it to the save for later.
Then I buy an electronic gift card for around the value but remember that for example a $100 gift card only earns 4 miles not 5. You have to put in a recipient name and email but you can use your own, purchase then you wait the 2 hours or so for them to send it to you so don't wait until too late tonight to buy.
Once you get the gift card go back and put everything back into your cart and input the gift card number and pin when you get to the pay area. If you bought a gift card for more than you needed it just stays on the gift card and you can use the rest later.
You earn air miles for both purchases but only reward points on the real item purchases.
I know long post.
Thanks. What I’m not seeing is how to buy the gift card on there site.
 

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