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

[SouthFayetteFan]

Yes, it’s a Disney Cruise.

Opened the Disney card in 2003.

So here’s an idea on the Disney card...

1) create a referral link from your existing card at https://www.chase.com/referafriend/catch-all

2) upgrade your existing Disney card here: https://www.chase.com/godisneypremier/gopremier

(Do this even if the offer is only for $50 - if it’s $100 that’s even better!)

3) wait about a month

4) use your own referral link to apply for a new no annual fee Disney card

This would earn you a $200 bonus AND it’s likely you’ll get the $100 referral even though you upgraded the card and self referred!

 

[afan]

Not personal experience, but I did a lot of research on this subject when I was writing about it a couple years ago when I was doing some contracting work. There are lots of articles about it online that helps describe the pros and cons. The cons (from my research and talking to a close friend who has this) is that people take fewer vacation days. They don't "owe" it to you, they can say, "sure you can go, I know you planned this months ago, but this is a really busy time and there may be consequences," etc. Also, if he leaves the job (layoff, resign) there is no payout at all. If my DH left his job today, they would owe him more than a month's salary just for the vacation time he has accrued. That's huge right there. The upshot is that people take fewer days off. It's a bonus for the company, not for the employees. Sorry to be so negative. As another poster said, it could be ok depending on the way the company is run, but I'm not a fan.

Those cons just make it shady. If you give me unlimited then I'm taking at least 2 weeks probably at one time and another week or 2 on there own at Christmas and some other time and potentially a day every month. Because it's all about balance and companies in the US don't think we need life balance in the work/life balance. I'd love to work at one of the places that gives you like a month/unlimited and money for the vacation, a place that basically forces you into it not that I'd spend it on the beach but in museums and cities and disney parks around the world.

I will say when I worked at the race team we had vacation but not sick days. We could and did call in sick or go to dr appts etc without any vacation being taken away. I even managed to squeeze out a personal day a couple of times for mental health, my boss also liked me What I noticed was for the most part people would stay home when they were sick and they weren't coming in if they were sick enough to be at home. Allergies or a cold they'd be in but you would be at any job. I'm not sure if it worked because you didn't feel like you only had x days for being sick or what it was but the last place I worked where it was straight PTO regardless of reason so many more people came in sick because they wanted to use it for vacation. So at the very least I don't agree with lumping it all together. This last job also didn't pay us for any unused vacation and we couldn't roll it over, so that's not an everywhere thing.

 

[Mopedmom1]

Not personal experience, but I did a lot of research on this subject when I was writing about it a couple years ago when I was doing some contracting work. There are lots of articles about it online that helps describe the pros and cons. The cons (from my research and talking to a close friend who has this) is that people take fewer vacation days. They don't "owe" it to you, they can say, "sure you can go, I know you planned this months ago, but this is a really busy time and there may be consequences," etc. Also, if he leaves the job (layoff, resign) there is no payout at all. If my DH left his job today, they would owe him more than a month's salary just for the vacation time he has accrued. That's huge right there. The upshot is that people take fewer days off. It's a bonus for the company, not for the employees. Sorry to be so negative. As another poster said, it could be ok depending on the way the company is run, but I'm not a fan.

Those are my exact feelings as well. I wish we had a choice in the matter but we don't. The policy is effective July 1, and they are pushing for all ETO to be used by then. He is just a few years from retirement and we had been planning on using his unused vacation pay as a bridge into retirement. Not happening now, and I think that is EXACTLY the reason the company is moving to this. Cut their liability to employees, get them to use all their vacation time, and then have a mass layoff. Why yes, I MAY be a cynic.

 

[miztressuz]

I don't have that perk. But I just got an email from UPS that my order should be arriving tomorrow.

You have no AmEx cards whatsoever? It's available for every card I can think of. Even if not, MasterCard is offering it too for World and World Elite cards -
https://www.shoprunner.com/enroll/mastercard

PayPal also did something for a 1yr or 2yr membership. The CC ones are good for as long as you have an eligible card.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Barclays 70,000 Mile Hawaiian Business Offer

https://www.doctorofcredit.com/barclays-70000-mile-hawaiian-business-offer/

• 60,000 miles after spending $1,000 within the first 90 days
• 10,000 miles after making a purchase on an employee card

https://www.hawaiianairlines.com/hawaiianmiles2/credit-card-business

 

[Hoosier John]

... I will say when I worked at the race team ...

Ok, I'm new here. Race Team? What race team?

 

[Mopedmom1]

Those cons just make it shady. If you give me unlimited then I'm taking at least 2 weeks probably at one time and another week or 2 on there own at Christmas and some other time and potentially a day every month. Because it's all about balance and companies in the US don't think we need life balance in the work/life balance. I'd love to work at one of the places that gives you like a month/unlimited and money for the vacation, a place that basically forces you into it not that I'd spend it on the beach but in museums and cities and disney parks around the world.

I will say when I worked at the race team we had vacation but not sick days. We could and did call in sick or go to dr appts etc without any vacation being taken away. I even managed to squeeze out a personal day a couple of times for mental health, my boss also liked me What I noticed was for the most part people would stay home when they were sick and they weren't coming in if they were sick enough to be at home. Allergies or a cold they'd be in but you would be at any job. I'm not sure if it worked because you didn't feel like you only had x days for being sick or what it was but the last place I worked where it was straight PTO regardless of reason so many more people came in sick because they wanted to use it for vacation. So at the very least I don't agree with lumping it all together. This last job also didn't pay us for any unused vacation and we couldn't roll it over, so that's not an everywhere thing.

Without @Lain spreadsheet, I remember you being late 30's - early 40's. So at your age you feel 4 weeks is an okay amount of time off in a year? No way I'm judging anyone, just trying to get a feel for what people think is appropriate and at what age.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Without @Lain spreadsheet, I remember you being late 30's - early 40's. So at your age you feel 4 weeks is an okay amount of time off in a year? No way I'm judging anyone, just trying to get a feel for what people think is appropriate and at what age.

I plan to take 25ish days off this year.

 

[WVMomof3]

Without @Lain spreadsheet, I remember you being late 30's - early 40's. So at your age you feel 4 weeks is an okay amount of time off in a year? No way I'm judging anyone, just trying to get a feel for what people think is appropriate and at what age.

DH is at 6 weeks use or lose. That would absolutely be a bad policy for him. He already has a hard time taking time off. He ends up almost every year taking 2 weeks at Christmas, which isn't necessarily bad, but I think it would be better to spread out. If he had that policy at work I would see him taking maybe 3 weeks off, at his current employer with his current workload. He took today off as his first vacation day of the year only because he know he needs to start using them up. He also has tons and tons of accumulated sick leave. Plus 10 federal holidays a year.

 

[Mopedmom1]

I plan to take 25ish days off this year.

And you are mid 30's. Are you under DTO? We know you live in your parents basement and make your own work rules so probably not! Lol!

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

And you are mid 30's. Are you under DTO? We know you live in your parents basement and make your own work rules so probably not! Lol!

Haha! We aren’t on DTO but uh...I do just make my own rules. (you can read between the lines there)

 

[CyndiLouWho]

I forgot this is your first cruise. Wonderful that you were able to get Palo brunch - it's really fun. And the Wonder is nice because it's a smaller ship so you should be able to find your way around quickly. Alaska is amazing, too. What a great choice for a first cruise. I hope you enjoy it. I never thought I'd like cruising, and I'm not the typical circle around the Caribbean kind of cruiser, but I love the cruises that let us explore new regions of the world. Alaska was one of those.

I’ve never had a desire to cruise before and I’m not a beach type person. This cruise was for a desire to see Alaska. I could see doing other cruises with great interesting ports, but doubt we will because $$$. I’d love to take a Galapagos or Yangtze River cruise...when I hit the lottery.

 

[Mopedmom1]

DH is at 6 weeks use or lose. That would absolutely be a bad policy for him. He already has a hard time taking time off. He ends up almost every year taking 2 weeks at Christmas, which isn't necessarily bad, but I think it would be better to spread out. If he had that policy at work I would see him taking maybe 3 weeks off, at his current employer with his current workload. He took today off as his first vacation day of the year only because he know he needs to start using them up. He also has tons and tons of accumulated sick leave. Plus 10 federal holidays a year.

Yeah, no way dh would feel comfortable taking six weeks off with the new policy. I'm sure he won't want to take the number of days he is given under the old plan. I don't have a concrete on your age but guessing 40's. ???

 

[MKTokyo]

Sorta but sorta not.....UNLIMITED VACATION!!! Well, not really.

Does anyone work for a company that offers Discretionary Time OFF (DTO)?

DH received an email today saying he would be switched over to DTO effective July 1, 2019. While shiny, bright and exciting, I know they are not doing this out of the kindness of their heart. FYE is September 30 so they are trying to dump the ETO liability by then and the affected employees are being urge to use up their time immediately. Of course we have a vacation planned for mid September to use up the remaining FY 2019 days, and another end of October to draw from the FY 2020 bunch that he has not put in a request for time off for either yet. Not sure how this is going to go over with the new policy.

I would love to hear your thoughts about this policy, especially from those who have/had this "benefit".

DF's job sounds great on paper in that he doesn't have to go to a particular office every day & instead just needs to show up for whatever project he is working on at the time. If there is no project, then he doesn't have to go to work. In reality, there is always a project of some kind, or someone else needs assistance with their project & they ask if he would be willing to assist, or he really should be attending something or other for development, training, etc.

So, he could potentially take off a lot more time than he actually does, which I think isn't really unusual. I would say he could take 5-6 weeks off but usually only takes 3-4 weeks off (not including national holidays), whereas if he had limited vacation time he would be more encouraged to use it. This year is good because he had to work at a time when everyone else was not working & gets to make up for all that time at the end of this month. But, in general, I do not like DTO policies. They never seem to favor the employee.

 

[Lain]

Without @Lain spreadsheet, I remember you being late 30's - early 40's. So at your age you feel 4 weeks is an okay amount of time off in a year? No way I'm judging anyone, just trying to get a feel for what people think is appropriate and at what age.

Yeah. Most everyone I know get or take only 2-4 weeks off. Being strategic with long holidays helps. People who have “unlimited vacation time” — well, that sounds good in theory, but in practice it’s hard to take that much time off and not have work suffer.

P.S. I like to think I’m still in my mid-30s.

 

[miztressuz]

And you are mid 30's. Are you under DTO? We know you live in your parents basement and make your own work rules so probably not! Lol!

It's easy enough to get depending on your company or industry. We had PTO (pooled sick and Vaca) so by 3 years you had 20 days, by 7 25, but then you had to wait for a while for 30, maybe at 15 years? and you were pretty maxed out, I think you had to be director or above for more. So depending on when you were hired could easily have 25 days by age 30.

As for your DH, if what he had before was working, just keep at it to start. It's hard for them to complain if it's what they gave you before.

 

[Haley R]

Without @Lain spreadsheet, I remember you being late 30's - early 40's. So at your age you feel 4 weeks is an okay amount of time off in a year? No way I'm judging anyone, just trying to get a feel for what people think is appropriate and at what age.

I believe Dh got 7 weeks vacation this year, but I think he carried some over from last year

 

[Mopedmom1]

DF's job sounds great on paper in that he doesn't have to go to a particular office every day & instead just needs to show up for whatever project he is working on at the time. If there is no project, then he doesn't have to go to work. In reality, there is always a project of some kind, or someone else needs assistance with their project & they ask if he would be willing to assist, or he really should be attending something or other for development, training, etc.

So, he could potentially take off a lot more time than he actually does, which I think isn't really unusual. I would say he could take 5-6 weeks off but usually only takes 3-4 weeks off (not including national holidays), whereas if he had limited vacation time he would be more encouraged to use it. This year is good because he had to work at a time when everyone else was not working & gets to make up for all that time at the end of this month. But, in general, I do not like DTO policies. They never seem to favor the employee.

Is your DF Japanese? Is there a cultural difference regarding vacations?

 

[Lain]

Well I'm waiting for 2 Citi Biz AA cards and they are probably on their way at this point. Just kicking myself for not thinking of asking to expedite.

Pretty sure Citi doesn’t expedite new cards. So stop kicking yourself!

 

[wanderlust7]

Sorta but sorta not.....UNLIMITED VACATION!!! Well, not really.

Does anyone work for a company that offers Discretionary Time OFF (DTO)?

DH received an email today saying he would be switched over to DTO effective July 1, 2019. While shiny, bright and exciting, I know they are not doing this out of the kindness of their heart. FYE is September 30 so they are trying to dump the ETO liability by then and the affected employees are being urge to use up their time immediately. Of course we have a vacation planned for mid September to use up the remaining FY 2019 days, and another end of October to draw from the FY 2020 bunch that he has not put in a request for time off for either yet. Not sure how this is going to go over with the new policy.

I would love to hear your thoughts about this policy, especially from those who have/had this "benefit".

My DH has "unlimited" vacation. He's at a start-up. Seems to be popular to have the vacation time off their books. It's been fine though. He took about 5 weeks off last year and this year will be about 4 weeks. He hasn't had any problems getting it approved. He does check e-mail on vacation and will work if something comes up. Usually doesn't take too long, though it's still annoying. I think it depends on the company culture and also the attitudes of the direct supervisor.

On the other hand, I get almost 7 weeks a year. Can be accrued up to 500 hours. Can also be cashed out, which I've never done. I use most of it, but always keeping a stash.