Airmiles Armchair Chatter

[westcoastminnie]

Thinking of going to California have not been in 15 years, and want a few Disneyland days, how many days is enough to see all the new things. (Solo Adult trip)

I see Airmiles only has 3 day tickets, do they ever have 5 day tickets?

Yes! They are just waiting to be restocked right now. When they were last available they were 4295 miles.

I think 3 days can work, especially a solo trip, if you plan your days well and are somewhat familiar with the park. 1 day Disneyland + 1 day California Adventure and then the last day covering what you missed at either park. But 5 days are great if you want to take a more leisurely approach

 

[Dylemma1]

Bababear what Reno are you doing?
Donald My Hero Congrats on your new Car. We drive Toyotas and Subaru's, dh and both kids have Subaru's dd's is a 2000. We bought it for her for graduating, It had low km and no rust. She loves it..
I wonder if we will every buy another car. We keep things until they are dead.... You get to a certain age and wonder will this be my last....car....pet....bbq...I joke and tell my dh next car will be self driving or will be able to fly...
Dancing Disney, not sure why your cards aren't working, I also paid $107 for my prepaid m/c then used them to buy $100 of Home Depot. I really hope you get that sorted, it is very frustrating.

For others, Don't forget the Shell Deal now ends tomorrow!!

 

[bababear_50]

Bababear what Reno are you doing?
Donald My Hero Congrats on your new Car. We drive Toyotas and Subaru's, dh and both kids have Subaru's dd's is a 2000. We bought it for her for graduating, It had low km and no rust. She loves it..
I wonder if we will every buy another car. We keep things until they are dead.... You get to a certain age and wonder will this be my last....car....pet....bbq...I joke and tell my dh next car will be self driving or will be able to fly...
Dancing Disney, not sure why your cards aren't working, I also paid $107 for my prepaid m/c then used them to buy $100 of Home Depot. I really hope you get that sorted, it is very frustrating.

For others, Don't forget the Shell Deal now ends tomorrow!!

Hi hon
I have such a long list,,here is some of it..................long story short ---it is time for an home update and another son moved back home
scraping old stucco ceilings and painting
adding crown moulding
creating a new bedroom from and existing dining room (two new walls and new pocket door).
relocating some electrical.
Installing 4-5 new light fixtures.
removing carpet from living dining room and putting in ceramic plank flooring,,old baseboard may need to be replace.
upgrading old baseboard heaters
installing 6 new doors.
painting
I'd love to wave a wand and everything be done but their start date isn't till July.
Hugs to you
Mel

 

[Dylemma1]

Bababear another son moved home...it's so hard for kids these days, I don't know how they can afford to live on their own.
Sounds like your are thinking outside the box making a dining room a bedroom, good for you.
We are also doing some unconventional things with our house.
We are planning on retiring in the next couple of years and live 7 months in Mexico, the safe part of Mexico, the Yucatan, lower crime rate than Toronto, and no drug cartels are there. Much cheaper than here and wonderful people. A city of 1000000 people with Home Depot and Costco etc. The best tickets for the symphony are $17 CAD. Excellent medical.
We have a big ole house so we are gong to divide it into 3 apartments rent 2 out and live in the 3rd for the 5 months we are here. To do that we need to put another washroom in the basement and drywall parts of the basement etc. We will start that in the fall.

 

[isabellea]

Thinking of going to California have not been in 15 years, and want a few Disneyland days, how many days is enough to see all the new things. (Solo Adult trip)

I see Airmiles only has 3 day tickets, do they ever have 5 day tickets?

We went to DLR for the first time in April (just DH and I) and 3 days was plenty of time to see and do everything we wanted. Pixar Fest had just started but WOC was in refurb (only night show we missed). I think I would have been bored with 5 days in the parks. The parks are so close together that we hopped on day 1 and day 2. For day 3, we stayed at Disneyland because I had the Walk in Walt's Footsteps tour booked in the morning and F! dining pkg for the evening.

 

[bababear_50]

Bababear another son moved home...it's so hard for kids these days, I don't know how they can afford to live on their own.
Sounds like your are thinking outside the box making a dining room a bedroom, good for you.
We are also doing some unconventional things with our house.
We are planning on retiring in the next couple of years and live 7 months in Mexico, the safe part of Mexico, the Yucatan, lower crime rate than Toronto, and no drug cartels are there. Much cheaper than here and wonderful people. A city of 1000000 people with Home Depot and Costco etc. The best tickets for the symphony are $17 CAD. Excellent medical.
We have a big ole house so we are gong to divide it into 3 apartments rent 2 out and live in the 3rd for the 5 months we are here. To do that we need to put another washroom in the basement and drywall parts of the basement etc. We will start that in the fall.

Oh my 7 months in Mexico sounds wonderful, and the area and amenities sounds good too. I know so many people worry about affordable medical care being available when they retire.My dad bought/built and retired in Texas years ago and loved it.(Winter Texan). I just semi retired this past Feb. When I do fully retire my winter break away will most likely be a few trips down south, although there are a few place I'd like to visit around the world.
Converting your home into useable/rent generating space is a great way to supplement income in retirement. I feel so sorry for young people trying to find an affordable apt./home these days.
Well I am off to see about doubling up on some airmiles today.
Happy airmiles hunting everyone.
Hugs Mel

 

[Debbie]

Hi hon
I have such a long list,,here is some of it..................long story short ---it is time for an home update and another son moved back home
scraping old stucco ceilings and painting
adding crown moulding
creating a new bedroom from and existing dining room (two new walls and new pocket door).
relocating some electrical.
Installing 4-5 new light fixtures.
removing carpet from living dining room and putting in ceramic plank flooring,,old baseboard may need to be replace.
upgrading old baseboard heaters
installing 6 new doors.
painting
I'd love to wave a wand and everything be done but their start date isn't till July.
Hugs to you
Mel

My sister-in-law did the dining room/living room reno for my mother-in-law years ago. It worked very well for them for the years before she passed. It's hard when they boomerang back. We get used to our own space and quiet. But, that's what parents do.

Bababear another son moved home...it's so hard for kids these days, I don't know how they can afford to live on their own.
Sounds like your are thinking outside the box making a dining room a bedroom, good for you.
We are also doing some unconventional things with our house.
We are planning on retiring in the next couple of years and live 7 months in Mexico, the safe part of Mexico, the Yucatan, lower crime rate than Toronto, and no drug cartels are there. Much cheaper than here and wonderful people. A city of 1000000 people with Home Depot and Costco etc. The best tickets for the symphony are $17 CAD. Excellent medical.
We have a big ole house so we are gong to divide it into 3 apartments rent 2 out and live in the 3rd for the 5 months we are here. To do that we need to put another washroom in the basement and drywall parts of the basement etc. We will start that in the fall.

I love how you are thinking out of the box! Congratulations on a well-thought-out plan!

 

[dancin Disney style]

Success on the Visa card!!! I used it at the grocery store without a problem....except my groceries came to $96.

 

[osully]

The things that wake me up in the night......is it possible that the cards I tried to use were declined because the purchase was $107 and the card was $100. I thought that the $100 would come off and then I would just pay the $7 I'm going to head to the grocery store this morning and try to use the card again.

Yes this is why a prepaid cc would not work. I've only had one let me pay the balance at the store Hot Topic lol. (Disney Funko Pops!)

I've noticed with those most stores don't let you use the card up and just pay the balance. You typically need to use them to buy something you can fully pay for with the prepaid cc. i.e. must be less than $100 incl taxes if your prepaid cc is $100

 

[pigletto]

I read an article today saying there is a huge issue with Visa transactions in Europe right now. I only skimmed the article but it was saying Visa is officially saying it’s a computing issue and not cyber terrorism. Regardless , maybe Visa is having issues here as well?

As for me .. great success with PC today. I spent $230 and earned $54 in PC points . I will cash out for groceries next week and pick up my first $100 in Disney gift cards. I am trying to get to $1000 in Disney gift cards by next May which should be doable . Now just to earn 3000 more airmiles to get one of our tickets !

 

[pigletto]

Yes this is why a prepaid cc would not work. I've only had one let me pay the balance at the store Hot Topic lol. (Disney Funko Pops!)

I've noticed with those most stores don't let you use the card up and just pay the balance. You typically need to use them to buy something you can fully pay for with the prepaid cc. i.e. must be less than $100 incl taxes if your prepaid cc is $100

What a fantastic deal for them ... that means you would almost always end up with a bit of an unused balance. Seems to be what they are going for .

 

[bababear_50]

I was able to use my mastercard to buy $500 worth of Home Depot cards --got 550 airmiles.
Picked up some stuff at Rexall--spent 55 dollars got 110 airmiles.
Long story short
Neighbour hit gas line 400 feet from my bedroom
Came home to massive response unit,blocking my home,,,,
Enbridge Gas trying to clamp gas line right now. My sons are safe,,they were sleeping at the time.
Almost didn't have a home to reno,,,
Life is precious.
Hugs Mel

 

[Donald - my hero]

Still not able to quote or tag anyone ....

Regarding prepaid Visa/MC/AMEX gift cards:
Simple way to use up those piddly amounts left from purchases that were less than the total on the card--- AMAZON ! You can keep a running balance on your account and add any amount you want to at any time onto one of their "gift cards". The Visa cards i get from doing surveys have expiry dates and when they get close I'll just dump the into my Amazon account and poof, no expiry date to worry about. I've been known to add less than a dollar

 

[Disney Addicted]

I had issues trying to use the last few cents/dollars on the pre-paid Visa cards until finally a retailer told me this tip. She said as long as I know the "exact" amount available on the pre-paid Visa, they set the debit machine for that amount only before running the pre-paid Visa card through. Then the remaining balance can be paid with cash, debit, CC, etc.

It's been working beautifully! I just have to either log-in or phone the #800 number and keep writing the current balance on my pre-paid Visa cards.

Still not able to quote or tag anyone ....

Regarding prepaid Visa/MC/AMEX gift cards:
Simple way to use up those piddly amounts left from purchases that were less than the total on the card--- AMAZON ! You can keep a running balance on your account and add any amount you want to at any time onto one of their "gift cards". The Visa cards i get from doing surveys have expiry dates and when they get close I'll just dump the into my Amazon account and poof, no expiry date to worry about. I've been known to add less than a dollar

That's an awesome tip! I'll have to remember that if I run into trouble with the cards again.

I was able to use my mastercard to buy $500 worth of Home Depot cards --got 550 airmiles.
Picked up some stuff at Rexall--spent 55 dollars got 110 airmiles.
Long story short
Neighbour hit gas line 400 feet from my bedroom
Came home to massive response unit,blocking my home,,,,
Enbridge Gas trying to clamp gas line right now. My sons are safe,,they were sleeping at the time.
Almost didn't have a home to reno,,,
Life is precious.
Hugs Mel

I'm glad everyone is all right!! How scary that must have been for you!

We had that happen a few years ago only our neighbour was across the street and a few houses down from us. He removed the old chain link fence and was digging post-holes for a new wooden fence. Right on the same spots as the old fence so who knew he'd hit a gas line. He was terrified. I felt so bad for him.

 

[Disney Addicted]

Thinking of going to California have not been in 15 years, and want a few Disneyland days, how many days is enough to see all the new things. (Solo Adult trip)

I see Airmiles only has 3 day tickets, do they ever have 5 day tickets?

My son and I did 3 days in Disneyland for the first time about 1 1/2 years ago. It was great! For us it was 3 full days. From arriving before parking opening to late evening - no going back to the hotel for a break. Our breaks were long lunches/dinners.

I recommend the World of Color Dessert Party. I debated over spending the extra money versus fast-passes and finally purchased. It was so nice to have seats to sit down for the show; alcoholic beverages and the desserts. They gave us boxes (and water bottles!) to bring what we couldn't finish out with us. My son loved his color changing glass.

My favorite ride was Indiana Jones. I could have done that over-and-over-and-over-and-over!

 

[dancin Disney style]

I had issues trying to use the last few cents/dollars on the pre-paid Visa cards until finally a retailer told me this tip. She said as long as I know the "exact" amount available on the pre-paid Visa, they set the debit machine for that amount only before running the pre-paid Visa card through. Then the remaining balance can be paid with cash, debit, CC, etc.

It's been working beautifully! I just have to either log-in or phone the #800 number and keep writing the current balance on my pre-paid Visa cards.

That's what I have done in the past....and have already written the remaining amount on the card I used this morning. DH gets Visa gift cards from work about every 6-8 months or so. They are usually $200 or higher so I never spend the whole amount in one go. After the first time that I had one of those cards and knew there was money left over but couldn't use it I called the number on the back and that person told me that I had to know the balance in order to use it. From that point on I use a sharpie to write on the card.


Had another interesting Shell visit today. The one that wouldn't let me churn the Visa cards....they did today, but it was the same lady that sold me the Visa cards with no fee. I bought two more from her and once again no fee. The other store that was going to allow me to churn the cards....went in with the plan of using the Visa cards to buy a Telus mobility card for DD's phone and some Can Tire to use for gas. I got the Telus card but the AM don't show on my receipt and the clerk claimed that was because I used the Visa to pay the $100 and paid the $13 balance with cash. I've made notes and have put the receipt away to go after AM later on for that one.

I might be buying a sofa from Home Outfitters and I will make a final decision tonight. If I go ahead with it I will run back out to Shell to buy more Visa cards with DD's AM card and then churn them to HBC cards tomorrow. Will also churn my Visa cards to HBC tomorrow. I can, hopefully, end up with $1000 in HBC cards and 2200 AM. Plus whatever I end up with from Amex(I've lost track) and the HBC rewards conversion to AM.

 

[dancin Disney style]

I was able to use my mastercard to buy $500 worth of Home Depot cards --got 550 airmiles.
Picked up some stuff at Rexall--spent 55 dollars got 110 airmiles.
Long story short
Neighbour hit gas line 400 feet from my bedroom
Came home to massive response unit,blocking my home,,,,
Enbridge Gas trying to clamp gas line right now. My sons are safe,,they were sleeping at the time.
Almost didn't have a home to reno,,,
Life is precious.
Hugs Mel

Holy cow...glad everyone is OK!

 

[marcyleecorgan]

I was able to use my mastercard to buy $500 worth of Home Depot cards --got 550 airmiles.
Picked up some stuff at Rexall--spent 55 dollars got 110 airmiles.
Long story short
Neighbour hit gas line 400 feet from my bedroom
Came home to massive response unit,blocking my home,,,,
Enbridge Gas trying to clamp gas line right now. My sons are safe,,they were sleeping at the time.
Almost didn't have a home to reno,,,
Life is precious.
Hugs Mel

Sweet Niblets! *lots of hugs* Glad everyone is safe!

 

[kitntrip]

That's really strange about the prepaid visas. I work at Bed Bath & Beyond and we get those prepaid cards all the time. Our machines take whatever is left on the card and then the customer just pays the balance.

 

[osully]

Got 80 or so AM today at Sobeys for about $56 spent. Not as good as Metro 80 for $34 yesterday but I'll take it

Need to reign in our spending as we are moving soon - trying to do as many of the AirMiles surveys as possible. And always do the surveys on the receipts. Would really like to win some grocery store gift cards!!

Going to do a no buy June, and no eat out June!