I love credit cards so much! v2.0 (see first page for add'l details)

[have2getaway]

@have2getaway

I’d also be interested in your exact dates...when you say “Weds to Weds (Before President’s Day)” do you mean leaving the Wed before or getting back the Wed before? (Exact dates would be helpful). Same issue with your other description...”Tues to Tues (After President’s Day/during Mardi Gras)” - leaving Tues after or getting back Tues after? I can figure out that Pres Day is 2/17 but I can’t quite figure out exactly what your descriptions in parentheses mean.

IF we are comparing these two options:

• Option 1 = 2/4-2/11
• Option 2 = 2/12-2/19

Then option 1 wins the day. Lower crowds, substantially less URs - pay the $350 and take that option. If I have my dates all wrong then clarify lol!

Dates would be Feb. 12 to Feb. 19 or Feb. 18 to Feb. 25. We’re going with the 12th to 19th.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Thank you! This really does lay it out much nicer and make it easier to compare. We were both thinking week 1 as well.

Glad to help! I think you should win that discussion with your husband! Don’t be afraid to cash out URs if that’s what it takes to “justify” the flight expense. Points do = money and you can use them however you want to make things work.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Thank you! This really does lay it out much nicer and make it easier to compare. We were both thinking week 1 as well.

FYI: your week 1 does not line up with what I was pitching as “week 1”.

Dates would be Feb. 12 to Feb. 19 or Feb. 18 to Feb. 25. We’re going with the 12th to 19th.

Hmmmm 2/12 - 2/19 includes the SLAMMED weekend of 2/15 - 2/17...

But 2/18-2/23 will probably be pretty busy too...

If crowds are a major consideration, is there any way you can avoid Pres day altogether? 2/6 - 2/13 or something similar would likely yield significantly lower crowds IMO.

 

[kidsfirsttrip]

Dates would be Feb. 12 to Feb. 19 or Feb. 18 to Feb. 25. We’re going with the 12th to 19th.

FYI: your week 1 does not line up with what I was pitching as “week 1”.


Hmmmm 2/12 - 2/19 includes the SLAMMED weekend of 2/15 - 2/17...

But 2/18-2/23 will probably be pretty busy too...

If crowds are a major consideration, is there any way you can avoid Pres day altogether? 2/6 - 2/13 or something similar would likely yield significantly lower crowds IMO.

I was there this past prez weekend - the Sunday before through Wednesday. The Sunday was crazy but the rest of the week was totally manageable. I highly recommend EP which you are getting. I’d book now. Prices likely won’t come down and I had no luck getting better AP rates. It was busy but never felt slammed. Think the longest we waited with EP was maybe 30 min for a ride. Now I would avoid Disney that week like the plaque. I heard the waits presidents weekend were out of control!

 

[elgerber]

We looked at around 16 houses today and it was a very productive day of house hunting! We found one we absolutely love. It’s at the very top of our budget but it’s completely move in ready. I’d rather have that than pay less and have to do work. We’d like to move down and not worry about anything. We may make an offer on it tomorrow after we get more info on the house.

That is so exciting!!!

 

[AmyAnne]

I’ll try to write up all the character meals this week before I leave again.

Thanks!

In thinking about this, I also realized that since my desire for at least a few character photos each trip is what justifies the character meals, in recent trips I have chosen all non-face characters (is there a term for that?) because my 6-foot+ sons and even my 5'10" daughter just tower over the princesses and everyone looks kind of awkward . . . Crystal Palace is my current favorite, and last trip Hollywood and Vine was surprisingly good food-wise.

 

[Limes96]

Would we all agree that the best card for statement credit on WDW tickets is the Arrival+? If so, if I purchase the tickets in the first statement period as part of my MSR and get the points then, can I use them to "erase" the travel purchase? Or would my best tactic be to meet the MSR, get the SUB and then make the purchase with Undercover Tourist?

I’m curious about this too! Not sure if we’ll buy tickets for our August trip other than the villains after hours (tix go on sale tomorrow!), but we might.

 

[wendow]

Would we all agree that the best card for statement credit on WDW tickets is the Arrival+? If so, if I purchase the tickets in the first statement period as part of my MSR and get the points then, can I use them to "erase" the travel purchase? Or would my best tactic be to meet the MSR, get the SUB and then make the purchase with Undercover Tourist?

I believe you have 120 days from when a travel purchase post to erase the charge. I erased 4 wdw tix with the arrival+. Definitely my fav for that!!

 

[kidsfirsttrip]

Off topic .somewhat, but I know there are Broadway fans here. Has anyone found good value redeeming Chase UR for Broadway tix?

YES! Just saw Lion King - was 10500 UR per ticket. I thought it was a great value as seats were around $180 each not including all the fees. It gave you a general area (orchestra/prime mezzanine) and we picked the tickets up a will call. So if your picky about exact seats that’d be an issue. They put us to the back but dead center and only 4 seats in from the aisle. I’m looking at Aladdin for our next trip! They had tons of options about 3 months before the show - Aladdin, Frozen, Wicked, Book of Mormon, King Kong were just a few I remember seeing

 

[Haley R]

That is so exciting!!!

We found an amazing house. It literally is like the house of our dreams. It is at the top of our budget but there is absolutely no work to be done to the house and it’s just a golf cart ride away from the elementary school. Oh.....and we have to buy a golf cart or we won’t fit in here haha

 

[kandb]

Cause AA vacations aren’t showing reflecting the new summer promos. YC is rack rates. Since I just got on the train in late Jan, and need two rooms for our fam size, I don’t have anywhere close to enough points. So we’d have a lot OOP. Also, AA doesn’t have the values either anymore so we’ll be OOP on the Pop stay. I need to decrease our OOP costs

If you are going in August, an agency runs great deals both with BC and YC. We paid around $260/night last year to stay in YC. If you want info, PM me.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Glad to help! I think you should win that discussion with your husband! Don’t be afraid to cash out URs if that’s what it takes to “justify” the flight expense. Points do = money and you can use them however you want to make things work.

Says the man who doesn’t cash out points

 

[wendow]

If you are going in August, an agency runs great deals both with BC and YC. We paid around $260/night last year to stay in YC. If you want info, PM me.

Thanks for the offer but yeah, as @SouthFayetteFan said, I'm familiar with that agency. We've booked with them 3 or 4 times. Unfortunately, their rates are higher than Disney direct for our dates this year

As an aside, I had contacted them for pricing for this past March when dh & I were going for a resort only stay. They were, once again, higher than booking straight through Disney.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

All worked out for me with Raise.com...

I uploaded proof that my card had been activated 45 days. Sold it within 8 minutes of being listed on Friday, money is in my bank account today! $205.70 for a $250 gift card. (I probably could've gotten more but I just wanted to get it moving)...

Just bought the $200 card for my wife's AA credit so now begins my 45 days to sell that card. I know the 45 days is annoying but I really don't need the money any sooner and Raise has been so reliable that I'm sticking with it!

EDIT: The one thing that is a bummer, when I've sold with Raise before I usually could find a promo code to lessen the 15% fee or I got a promo code after selling to purchase a card at a discount. Neither of those things happened this time, not that I expected it, but I was hoping, lol!

I'm going to add another positive Raise.com experience. I purchased my wife's AA eGC back in March. I waited the 72 hours for it to be active (typical procedure) and then immediately uploaded it to Raise.com - 45 days had passed as of this morning - received an email from Raise that my Gift Card was now active. I intentionally had listed it at face value during the "holding" period (with the plan to adjust once it was active).

As soon as I knew it was active, I adjusted my price to make sure I was the "most discounted". I gave up $2ish to jump to the "head of the class". The other thing going in my favor is Raise is doing a 5% off everything promo this weekend. My GC sold within 2 hours of adjusting the price and I'm already setup to receive my ACH in a couple of days. I got 83.3% on this card. I got 82.2% on the one I sold previously. Very pleased again with my Raise.com experience

EDIT: I understand there are potentially more lucrative options out there but waiting 45 days was no big deal and this is SO painless and easy. I'm not looking to complicate things for another $5-$15.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Says the man who doesn’t cash out points

Well........ Do as I say, not as I do.

Or as Yoda might say it:

Someday...eventually...I will bring myself to cash-out a crap-ton of URs! It's coming soon I think I hope maybe

 

[PolyRob]

YES! Just saw Lion King - was 10500 UR per ticket. I thought it was a great value as seats were around $180 each not including all the fees. It gave you a general area (orchestra/prime mezzanine) and we picked the tickets up a will call. So if your picky about exact seats that’d be an issue. They put us to the back but dead center and only 4 seats in from the aisle. I’m looking at Aladdin for our next trip! They had tons of options about 3 months before the show - Aladdin, Frozen, Wicked, Book of Mormon, King Kong were just a few I remember seeing

You will not be disappointed with Aladdin! Its hard for me to pick a favorite, but between the 3 currently on Broadway, its my top pick. I just saw it for a second time this past weekend. Such a beautiful show! The magic carpet is great!! The only downside is that Abu (and Rajah) aren't "technically" in it.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Well........ Do as I say, not as I do.

Or as Yoda might say it:

Someday...eventually...I will bring myself to cash-out a crap-ton of URs! It's coming soon I think I hope maybe

Ok dad

 

[PolyRob]

Thanks for the offer but yeah, as @SouthFayetteFan said, I'm familiar with that agency. We've booked with them 3 or 4 times. Unfortunately, their rates are higher than Disney direct for our dates this year

As an aside, I had contacted them for pricing for this past March when dh & I were going for a resort only stay. They were, once again, higher than booking straight through Disney.

I've also used them 4x. I had a split booked this past March/April and rates were better than general public, but Disney AP rates forced me to cancel the original two reservations. I have 2 more future stays booked just because its better than rack rate. I was afraid of what discounts (or lack thereof) would look like this fall/winter with SWGE so I figured it was best to reserve something. I can always cancel again.

 

[Haley R]

I totally forgot to show this earlier! Look what we found in one of the house’s bedrooms: