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

[afan]

Anyone travel long distances with cats before? It would be about a 20 hour drive to our new house. I’m really considering driving rather than flying but that’s a long freaking drive with 2 cats.

We drove about 20 hours when we moved across the country with both our cats. We stopped one night in between at a pet-friendly hotel to give them (and us) a break. It was a long drive. We got a prescription for kitty [insert banned anti-anxiety med name here???] - one cat took it and mostly slept, the other cat refused to take the pill and meowed/whined the entire time. Cats get carsick/motionsick, so the meowing is a manifestation of that nausea. We put both in cages so they wouldn't be crawling everywhere while we were trying to drive, and had a litter box for them to use when we made pit stops (they never used it).

It was a long, long drive, but they - and we - made it. Remember that if you opt to fly them, airlines now require that they not be sedated. It's going to be tough on them but easier on you. It's your choice.

I've flown and driven with Dude across the country more than once, and while he's a dog some of the same things apply. Flying, you've got to have a soft sided bag that fits under the seat for each of them. The one I had for Dude was ok but longer and gave me basically no leg room. Going through security, I had to carry him through without his leash or harness on. This is fine if you have a non squirmy animal. I always gave him something from the vet to calm him down because I was always worried he'd start barking on the plane or freak out going through security. If I was going to fly with him now I wouldn't give him anything but he's 12 and while he hasn't flown in years he understood what the bag meant and knew what was coming. He'd get warm under the seat but never cause a problem. People would always comment when I'd pull him out from under the seat they had no idea he was there, which was always what I wanted.

Driving, like others have said, with cats from everything I've read of people moving/driving long distance with them is to put them in a big enough crate they can have a litter box if they need it. Dude hates the car so he'd generally go to the bathroom before we left for the day and then not again until we got to where we were staying. He's not a fan of loud noises and has ADD when it comes to going to the bathroom, he forgets what he's supposed to be doing. We almost always stop at truck stops for the ease of doing multiple things at once and when you have a uhaul with a trailer it's much easier to drive around. The boys would bark in the room when we weren't there but weren't too bad when we were there. And we heard dogs that were much worse than ours were. I would make sure there's somewhere along the way that allows cats. I'm used to seeing dogs allowed but haven't noticed about cats as much.

All that said I would drive over flying simply because I'd rather put up with the meowing for 20 hours over two days when I can turn the radio up than to be on a plane and have the cats meow the entire flight or even worse, despite having not given them food or water for at least 4 hours prior to the flight, having them poo or pee during the flight and make everything smell. At least with dogs you can get them to go to the bathroom, unless you've trained your cats to go on command I wold have been mortified if Dude had done anything on the flight and it was always my worry. I realize you'll probably never see these people again but you only need one bad apple for you all to end up on the nightly news because of it.

Plus driving also allows you to move anything that you don't want to have to worry about the movers moving. I definitely have some stuff that I'd prefer to transport in my car rather than have someone else move it that I also wouldn't want to check in my luggage. Plus each cat counts as a carry on so you'd really only get a personal item unless you bend the rules and make them your personal item. But you'd need to be ok with checking the other item if there's no room when you board.

 

[StephPlum]

I am so glad to see the news about plastiq and CIP!! I am going to hurry and pay my property tax to finish off my CIP MSR before they take the 3x away again.

This is my plan. I was going to use my CIP for my property tax to meet MSR anyway. Now I can get some additional points at the same time!

 

[Disneyonmymind]

Well that Plastiq mortgage payment was easy - PNC didn't apply it correctly so I did have to make a quick 15 min. phone call to get that straightened out. I wanted that one handled before I did it again so I'm on step two of my plan to make the 2nd $500 pmt for $0 in fees. Just completed that now

My Citi AA Biz #2 is now down to just $1k left in MSR!

Overall I'm impressed with how Plastiq works. I have VERY limited use for it as my mortgage could be gone by the end of the year. Do you think I could use it to payoff a HELOC? I seem to recall reading about people doing this. I could just borrow $2k on my HELOC, immediately pay it off with an AA Biz, And pay < $3 interest and $50 in Plastiq fee for my 40k AA miles (hopefully 60k after the match)...

Similarly, I have been thinking about getting a used car loan from my CU for DDs car and then immediately paying it off with plastiq. I haven’t worked out the details but I hate to not get any benefit from that spend.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Similarly, I have been thinking about getting a used car loan from my CU for DDs car and then immediately paying it off with plastiq. I haven’t worked out the details but I hate to not get any benefit from that spend.

Hmmm so I buy a used car and then sell it.... JK JK JK!!

 

[Lain]

Soooo did anyone who signed up for a Lux/Brilliant separately get targeted to upgrade their SPG Personal with the new round going out?

No upgrade offers on my 1+ y.o. SPG personal card. I'm a little pessimistic I'll get an upgrade offer as long as I have the Lux/Brilliant open; and I have my SPG personal card on a separate online account than the Lux/Brilliant too.

 

[chattadisser]

Anyone travel long distances with cats before? It would be about a 20 hour drive to our new house. I’m really considering driving rather than flying but that’s a long freaking drive with 2 cats.

I've done it both ways...I've driven from Kentucky to Maine and then from Maine to Tennessee with two cats and I've flown from Kentucky to Florida with one. I'd take the driving over flying anyway.

For the flying, they can't be sedated and have to fit under the seat in front of you (yes, meowing the whole time). You also have to take them out of the carrier to go through security and they could be like mine who got spooked and took off in the airport. I chased after him and he went through the baggage carousel flappy things. I didn't realize it at the time but he had cut me with his nails during all this so now, I was a bloody, crying mess. To make the story short, we caught him, got him back in the carrier and off we went. We were the last people on the flight and EVERYONE knew what had happened. I was in college at the time and would now, as a more uh-hum mature adult, do things a lot differently in this situation now.

Fast forward 5-6 years and the driving. We sedated them, stopped overnight with them in the hotel bathroom and their litterbox. Did they like it? I doubt it but I think it was way less stressful for all of us. When they meowed in the car, I just turned the radio up!

Luckily, moving long distance isn't something that you typically do too often!

 

[amalone1013]

No upgrade offers on my 1+ y.o. SPG personal card. I'm a little pessimistic I'll get an upgrade offer as long as I have the Lux/Brilliant open; and I have my SPG personal card on a separate online account than the Lux/Brilliant too.

Bummer... I was secretly hoping DH would be targeted, but nope. I was hoping that separate account trick might work for you.

 

[Alexle2007]

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[DisneyMandC]

Another Hyatt option to consider for your trip to Japan, @DisneyMandC: https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/comments/bk75uj/discussion_thread_may_03_2019/emf73sk

Thanks! I recall reading some great reviews of that place back when I first started looking at Tokyo stuff. Seems like a great points redemption. I spent a lot of time looking at the Truly Tokyo website this morning, which was helpful in kind of orienting myself to where we want to be in the city.

 

[PolyRob]

4 charges and 1 Chase Fraud alert later (BJs Disney Gift Cards), I am 3/5 done with CIP #2 MSR.

I think I may jump on the Plastiq bandwagon. I didn't have a CIP when it was still coding 3x, but now I could use it for my car lease!

 

[wendow]

I did this recently. The problem I had was that I wrote "do not apply to principal" in the memo. All of the payments arrived before the 1st, so they said since I technically had no payment due yet and I told them they couldn't apply to principal, they had no choice but to mail back the payments! I was able to get it corrected with a phone call. She said next time to allow them to apply to principal and call in later to have it adjusted OR have the payments arrive after the first.

So is putting ‘apply to principal’ in the plastiq note good or still have to call?

 

[Haley R]

My husband drove from California to Boise with our two cats (about 10 hours). It sounded pretty hellish. If he didn't dislike flying so much, I think he'd choose not to drive with them if he had a do-over. He did get something from the vet to relax them, but it was pretty much non-stop meowing for the drive and quite a bit of poop to clean up....

Yikes that sounds terrible!

 

[Haley R]

We drove about 20 hours when we moved across the country with both our cats. We stopped one night in between at a pet-friendly hotel to give them (and us) a break. It was a long drive. We got a prescription for kitty [insert banned anti-anxiety med name here???] - one cat took it and mostly slept, the other cat refused to take the pill and meowed/whined the entire time. Cats get carsick/motionsick, so the meowing is a manifestation of that nausea. We put both in cages so they wouldn't be crawling everywhere while we were trying to drive, and had a litter box for them to use when we made pit stops (they never used it).

It was a long, long drive, but they - and we - made it. Remember that if you opt to fly them, airlines now require that they not be sedated. It's going to be tough on them but easier on you. It's your choice.

I had no idea you couldn’t sedate them on the plane. Why is that? I just called the vet today about getting medicine for the plane and they didn’t even mention that.

 

[Haley R]

We've made 2 12-hour and 1 15-hour road trip with two cats. The 15-hour trip we stopped overnight. Cats together in one large pet crate; we found that covering it with a blanket so they couldn't see out actually seemed to relax them. The first trip we had a litter box and made a few rest-area stops to see if they would use it, but they never did. Only one "accident" which we handled by just tossing the old towels we had put in the bottom of the crate and replacing with "new" old towels. Not any worse than a long road trip with young kids! And I'm not sure flying with cats would be better--from what I understand, they need to be on leashes and out of their crates to go through security. Plus I think my cats would be way more distressed by being in the airport than in the car.

Dh said you can ask for a private screening room for security and we would probably do that. Our cats freak out at the vet and an airport would be way more busy.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

They are giving us 75k URs after the close. That doesn’t help us fly down though unfortunately.

Isn’t the new employer giving you help with that?

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Anyone travel long distances with cats before? It would be about a 20 hour drive to our new house. I’m really considering driving rather than flying but that’s a long freaking drive with 2 cats.

Better driving than flying with pets.

 

[Haley R]

I've flown and driven with Dude across the country more than once, and while he's a dog some of the same things apply. Flying, you've got to have a soft sided bag that fits under the seat for each of them. The one I had for Dude was ok but longer and gave me basically no leg room. Going through security, I had to carry him through without his leash or harness on. This is fine if you have a non squirmy animal. I always gave him something from the vet to calm him down because I was always worried he'd start barking on the plane or freak out going through security. If I was going to fly with him now I wouldn't give him anything but he's 12 and while he hasn't flown in years he understood what the bag meant and knew what was coming. He'd get warm under the seat but never cause a problem. People would always comment when I'd pull him out from under the seat they had no idea he was there, which was always what I wanted.

Driving, like others have said, with cats from everything I've read of people moving/driving long distance with them is to put them in a big enough crate they can have a litter box if they need it. Dude hates the car so he'd generally go to the bathroom before we left for the day and then not again until we got to where we were staying. He's not a fan of loud noises and has ADD when it comes to going to the bathroom, he forgets what he's supposed to be doing. We almost always stop at truck stops for the ease of doing multiple things at once and when you have a uhaul with a trailer it's much easier to drive around. The boys would bark in the room when we weren't there but weren't too bad when we were there. And we heard dogs that were much worse than ours were. I would make sure there's somewhere along the way that allows cats. I'm used to seeing dogs allowed but haven't noticed about cats as much.

All that said I would drive over flying simply because I'd rather put up with the meowing for 20 hours over two days when I can turn the radio up than to be on a plane and have the cats meow the entire flight or even worse, despite having not given them food or water for at least 4 hours prior to the flight, having them poo or pee during the flight and make everything smell. At least with dogs you can get them to go to the bathroom, unless you've trained your cats to go on command I wold have been mortified if Dude had done anything on the flight and it was always my worry. I realize you'll probably never see these people again but you only need one bad apple for you all to end up on the nightly news because of it.

Plus driving also allows you to move anything that you don't want to have to worry about the movers moving. I definitely have some stuff that I'd prefer to transport in my car rather than have someone else move it that I also wouldn't want to check in my luggage. Plus each cat counts as a carry on so you'd really only get a personal item unless you bend the rules and make them your personal item. But you'd need to be ok with checking the other item if there's no room when you board.

Thank you for your input. I love your detailed response because it really helped us think about things we didn’t realize before. I honestly was only worried about the meowing and didn’t even think about if they pooped on the plane. I really think we might drive instead now. You completely changed my mind lol. We aren’t 100% decided yet but driving is looking more appealing

 

[Haley R]

I've done it both ways...I've driven from Kentucky to Maine and then from Maine to Tennessee with two cats and I've flown from Kentucky to Florida with one. I'd take the driving over flying anyway.

For the flying, they can't be sedated and have to fit under the seat in front of you (yes, meowing the whole time). You also have to take them out of the carrier to go through security and they could be like mine who got spooked and took off in the airport. I chased after him and he went through the baggage carousel flappy things. I didn't realize it at the time but he had cut me with his nails during all this so now, I was a bloody, crying mess. To make the story short, we caught him, got him back in the carrier and off we went. We were the last people on the flight and EVERYONE knew what had happened. I was in college at the time and would now, as a more uh-hum mature adult, do things a lot differently in this situation now.

Fast forward 5-6 years and the driving. We sedated them, stopped overnight with them in the hotel bathroom and their litterbox. Did they like it? I doubt it but I think it was way less stressful for all of us. When they meowed in the car, I just turned the radio up!

Luckily, moving long distance isn't something that you typically do too often!

Omg that’s horrible! One of our cats is microchipped and the other isn’t so Dh wanted to get him chipped if we go the plane route. The only thing with driving is it makes Dh want to move stuff ourselves and I really don’t want to. I just don’t want to deal with buying things to pack stuff up plus we aren’t experienced at all with packing and moving things. Decisions decisions

 

[vanjust14]

So is putting ‘apply to principal’ in the plastiq note good or still have to call?

If you want to avoid calling, I'd make sure to put "partial payment- do not apply to principal" making sure it was delivered after the due date. I chose the 1st as delivery date but Plastiq sent it early. Pick a few days after.
If you put "apply to principal" then yes, you would need to call and ask them to apply it correctly.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Dh said you can ask for a private screening room for security and we would probably do that. Our cats freak out at the vet and an airport would be way more busy.

I’d hesitate to recommend flying with any pet after recent horror stories. Would you take them in the cabin? If they yowl the whole time, you will have very unhappy fellow passengers as well as kitties. If you put them in cargo there are issues with temperature regulation, plus airlines have been known to send them on wrong planes as well as multiple reports of pets getting loose and lost. Years ago, we were getting a puppy from out of state and they would ship it. Instead we drove a couple states away to pick her up. She cried a lot on the way home, I won’t lie. But the thought of her locked up, alone, in the cargo hold was too much for me.