Alexle2007
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Are we sure they aren’t staged like the inauguration pics
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I love credit cards so much! v2.0 (see first page for add'l details)
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Lain
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Casper partners with local organizations to donate the returned mattresses. (There have been several articles in the business news sites about these mattress in a box business models, including what they do with returns.) When I talked to the manager at our local Casper showroom, she mentioned they were donating returned mattresses to the people who lost their homes and possessions in the Paradise Fire at the time. Casper doesn’t sell used mattresses.
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GlamMistress
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SouthFayetteFan
Saving Money on Disney Vacations since 2006
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Devaluations are just part of the game. The ability to print AA miles like monopoly money makes a devaluation to a churner (while frustrating) more of a nuisance. The people IMO who have warranted frustration are those who earn their miles through flights, stays, etc. (i.e the traditional way).
Basically as a churner... I'll see your devaluation and raise you 3 more cards!! Muahaha...
I should also add that I wouldn't "spend" any miles quickly over fear of a devaluation. If you have a viable use for them then use them. I would not "wastefully" spend them though over fear that they may be worth 20% less or something like that tomorrow.
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gottalovepluto
DIS Legend
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Trip report time!!! I apologize for the sideways photos. No idea how to fix this new DIS quirk.
In total I was 3.5 weeks to the Seychelles, South Africa & Hong Kong. I’m gonna take this in 4 parts over the next few days: Seychelles, Safari in South Africa, South Africa & Hong Kong.
Seychelles
Flight: Qatar Airways J (biz class) via AA. FAT-LAX-DOH-SEZ, 75k AA miles + $45 taxes +$150 change fee to add FAT leg when availability opened up (only economy though). LAX-DOH was switched to Q-Suites a few months before departure and it stayed like that (Q-Suite routes are notorious for equipment changes). (At LAX QR uses Qantas Biz Class Lounge which was fine.) The good: privacy of the area, good entertainment selection, good food, good champagne. The bad: service. My FA was lousy, whenever I wanted anything she acted like I was a total annoyance. And I swear I’m low maintenance! What really got me was she was super chatty/sweet to the older couple behind me. The other disappointment was the bed. It was hard to sleep on for me because the single suite beds are thin and I sleep on my side and curl up my legs so I didn’t fit. After landing at DOH you’re bused to the terminal, J had their own bus so it was fast to get off.
8 hour layover in DOH: QR J Lounge was awesome. I would TOTALLY do a long layover there again. I took a wonderful shower, blow dryer on request, didn’t have to wait. I arrived around 6pm local time, lounge wasn’t busy. It started getting busy around 11pm and it was very busy when I left around 1am. Espresso machines and water were available all over, thank goodness because I was falling asleep! Upstairs was a buffet like area for food and a bar. Downstairs on the other side was a sandwich type restaurant with another bar. I hit both, liked both. It was important to walk around and re-locate to stay awake! They had a luggage storage area with lockers but during busy times it gets full.
DOH-SEZ:
We were bused to our plane so J was loaded last. Felt bad for all the Econ class people stuffed in their bus as I took my seat in our J class fancy bus. This was old school QR J with 2-2-2 seats. I got a middle aisle seat so no awkward straddle or wake up decisions to be made. Service on this flight was outstanding. Food was not as good as Q-Suite but the service made up for it. Entertainment was the same. There was more width to the seat when I tried to sleep so I liked it better. I wished I’d gone with row 1 because it looked like they had double the space in their footwell.
I would definitely do QR J again. I would not go out of my way for a Q-Suite, but anyone interested in it should definitely try a Q-Suite once.
LeMeridian Fishermen’s Cove Seychelles:
3 nights, booked on a Friend’s & Family type rate so I won’t go into it. The “cheap” restaurant had beautiful sunset views (Red Snapper was perfection here) but the property was desperately in need of maintenance. Tiles were literally missing from the pool on the bottom & the sides. Pool was clean enough- but “clean enough” is not good enough for what this hotel charges. Maintenance issues were present even in the rooms, I remember my shower head was rusty. Yeah, eww but I didn’t want to chance a different room that might have worse problems. My Gold Status was acknowledged & I was upgraded one room. The view was important considering how much time I spent staring at it in the rain! Definitely would not book a non-ocean view in the Seychelles for that reason. At the end of the day I can not recommend this property.
Seychelles, Mahe Island:
I only had 3 nights so I did them all on Mahe, the main island. The pretty ones are the other two islands but I get motion sick so didn’t even day trip over to either- thank goodness as it rained for the first couple days. I got a break from rain my second afternoon so I did the botanical gardens by taxi to feed Giant Tortoises- totally recommend! The gardens are sad tbh- BUT YOU CAN FEED GIANT TORTOISES!! For a small fee of course
There is no general company taxi number to call in the Seychelles, you have to talk to a local who then calls a few taxi friends to get you one or a hotel concierge who does the same thing. A main gripe I had with the Seychelles is I felt like I was getting fleeced every time I turned around, it was worse than anywhere I’ve traveled. I get they know I’m a foreigner & therefore it’s acceptable to fleece me but in the Seychelles it just felt they took tourist fleecing to a nasty level.
Did a day tour of the island booked via w/ CSR points on the Chase Portal. No issues, lunch included (but not drinks we found out right before, hole in the wall lunch place charged 4x what the bathroom stop we hit prior to lunch did for a water bottle. Fleecing in action.)
Flight to JNB:
SEZ-JNB, Air Seychelles Economy. Booked via Citi TYP points transferred to Etihad. 22k points + $156 taxes & fees.
No saver availability in J or I would have done that but at 5 hours it was basically a domestic cross country flight to me. I completely forgot about taxes and fuel charges, had I realized how high they would be I would have just booked via Citi Premier travel portal and not risked availability disappearing while I waited a week for the points transfer. Seats had little legroom but lots of recline. Person in front dropped his seat super fast all the way he could and had my legs been half an inch longer I would have been clobbered. Seat back entertainment was available, small selection. Normal (ie inedible) meal served. I didn’t feel unsafe with the airline, they got me where I needed to go. Plane was a bit warm, glad I wore shorts. Also, the check in area at SEZ is open air with no AC so definitely wear shorts to the airport!
In total I was 3.5 weeks to the Seychelles, South Africa & Hong Kong. I’m gonna take this in 4 parts over the next few days: Seychelles, Safari in South Africa, South Africa & Hong Kong.
Seychelles
Flight: Qatar Airways J (biz class) via AA. FAT-LAX-DOH-SEZ, 75k AA miles + $45 taxes +$150 change fee to add FAT leg when availability opened up (only economy though). LAX-DOH was switched to Q-Suites a few months before departure and it stayed like that (Q-Suite routes are notorious for equipment changes). (At LAX QR uses Qantas Biz Class Lounge which was fine.) The good: privacy of the area, good entertainment selection, good food, good champagne. The bad: service. My FA was lousy, whenever I wanted anything she acted like I was a total annoyance. And I swear I’m low maintenance! What really got me was she was super chatty/sweet to the older couple behind me. The other disappointment was the bed. It was hard to sleep on for me because the single suite beds are thin and I sleep on my side and curl up my legs so I didn’t fit. After landing at DOH you’re bused to the terminal, J had their own bus so it was fast to get off.
8 hour layover in DOH: QR J Lounge was awesome. I would TOTALLY do a long layover there again. I took a wonderful shower, blow dryer on request, didn’t have to wait. I arrived around 6pm local time, lounge wasn’t busy. It started getting busy around 11pm and it was very busy when I left around 1am. Espresso machines and water were available all over, thank goodness because I was falling asleep! Upstairs was a buffet like area for food and a bar. Downstairs on the other side was a sandwich type restaurant with another bar. I hit both, liked both. It was important to walk around and re-locate to stay awake! They had a luggage storage area with lockers but during busy times it gets full.
DOH-SEZ:
We were bused to our plane so J was loaded last. Felt bad for all the Econ class people stuffed in their bus as I took my seat in our J class fancy bus. This was old school QR J with 2-2-2 seats. I got a middle aisle seat so no awkward straddle or wake up decisions to be made. Service on this flight was outstanding. Food was not as good as Q-Suite but the service made up for it. Entertainment was the same. There was more width to the seat when I tried to sleep so I liked it better. I wished I’d gone with row 1 because it looked like they had double the space in their footwell.
I would definitely do QR J again. I would not go out of my way for a Q-Suite, but anyone interested in it should definitely try a Q-Suite once.
LeMeridian Fishermen’s Cove Seychelles:
3 nights, booked on a Friend’s & Family type rate so I won’t go into it. The “cheap” restaurant had beautiful sunset views (Red Snapper was perfection here) but the property was desperately in need of maintenance. Tiles were literally missing from the pool on the bottom & the sides. Pool was clean enough- but “clean enough” is not good enough for what this hotel charges. Maintenance issues were present even in the rooms, I remember my shower head was rusty. Yeah, eww but I didn’t want to chance a different room that might have worse problems. My Gold Status was acknowledged & I was upgraded one room. The view was important considering how much time I spent staring at it in the rain! Definitely would not book a non-ocean view in the Seychelles for that reason. At the end of the day I can not recommend this property.
Seychelles, Mahe Island:
I only had 3 nights so I did them all on Mahe, the main island. The pretty ones are the other two islands but I get motion sick so didn’t even day trip over to either- thank goodness as it rained for the first couple days. I got a break from rain my second afternoon so I did the botanical gardens by taxi to feed Giant Tortoises- totally recommend! The gardens are sad tbh- BUT YOU CAN FEED GIANT TORTOISES!! For a small fee of course
There is no general company taxi number to call in the Seychelles, you have to talk to a local who then calls a few taxi friends to get you one or a hotel concierge who does the same thing. A main gripe I had with the Seychelles is I felt like I was getting fleeced every time I turned around, it was worse than anywhere I’ve traveled. I get they know I’m a foreigner & therefore it’s acceptable to fleece me but in the Seychelles it just felt they took tourist fleecing to a nasty level.
Did a day tour of the island booked via w/ CSR points on the Chase Portal. No issues, lunch included (but not drinks we found out right before, hole in the wall lunch place charged 4x what the bathroom stop we hit prior to lunch did for a water bottle. Fleecing in action.)
Flight to JNB:
SEZ-JNB, Air Seychelles Economy. Booked via Citi TYP points transferred to Etihad. 22k points + $156 taxes & fees.
No saver availability in J or I would have done that but at 5 hours it was basically a domestic cross country flight to me. I completely forgot about taxes and fuel charges, had I realized how high they would be I would have just booked via Citi Premier travel portal and not risked availability disappearing while I waited a week for the points transfer. Seats had little legroom but lots of recline. Person in front dropped his seat super fast all the way he could and had my legs been half an inch longer I would have been clobbered. Seat back entertainment was available, small selection. Normal (ie inedible) meal served. I didn’t feel unsafe with the airline, they got me where I needed to go. Plane was a bit warm, glad I wore shorts. Also, the check in area at SEZ is open air with no AC so definitely wear shorts to the airport!
Last edited:
gottalovepluto
DIS Legend
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- Jul 14, 2014
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OH! My ultimate conclusion on the Seychelles: overrated. Y’all saw my gorgeous sunset pictures- it really had the most beautiful beach sunsets I’ve ever seen. But beyond that Hawaii is better in every aspect. I’ve checked this off my list but won’t return unless some future SO is just dying to go there.
GusGus16
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- Mar 1, 2018
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Think I may have a plan to go forward at least for the next few months with a Hawaii trip in mind. Probably going to get the Amex Hilton Bus-going to apply for it in the next couple of days (would tonight but went to a fish fry and had a couple old fashions and want my mind to be on top of it for the app)... followed by hopefully another CIP, the amex spend will likely be enough to postpone the app until after the 1 year anniversary of my first CIP, so plan to close the first one and then open another one. Followed by Amex hilton aspire, this card will take me to 4/24, and is really only worth it to me if I do go ahead with the Hawaii trip, given the AF and perks-as I typically wouldn't use the airline fee credit and Hilton resort credit, etc. So want plans solidified before I go ahead and get the aspire.
Dates not set yet, and who knows if the trip will happen, but always fun to be in the planning stages and I'm fairly certain Hawaii will be in the cards in the next couple of years at least. Flights likely on United, nonstop to OGG, inter-island flight using SW to HNL, and nonstop back from HNL. Can top off my united points with UR transfer, ideally I would like to book first class on the red-eye home, won't likely be able to use points for that (as no saver awards currently), other than UR if the cost drops, so I'll continue watching the flight cost and if it drops consider booking it.
Hotels mainly hilton (using newly acquired points), marriott reward certs, hyatt (transfer from UR), and probs a cash stay at aulani (vs. rental with davids). Would try to earn as many UR's to cash out to help with other cash outlay-rental cars, aulani, first class flights, fees, etc.
This plan will likely take a solid 5-6 months, if not longer, with MSR of 3k, 5k, and 4k with two of those being amex. As most of my large bills are either in the first part or last part of the year. At the end would likely need to start booking some of the travel to meet the spends. Even if I don't end up going to hawaii, hilton is the right way forward, as I'm tapped out of marriott after using all of my points on my last trip and I'm locked out of sign out bonuses at this time. After making it through those three cards would need to consider retrying graavy train. Plan above keeps me at 4/24, so I would have room for another chase bus and/or chase personal card if the sign up bonus is very lucrative. Another card doesn't drop off until 1/2020, so need to be careful with personal cards to keep my options open.
Dates not set yet, and who knows if the trip will happen, but always fun to be in the planning stages and I'm fairly certain Hawaii will be in the cards in the next couple of years at least. Flights likely on United, nonstop to OGG, inter-island flight using SW to HNL, and nonstop back from HNL. Can top off my united points with UR transfer, ideally I would like to book first class on the red-eye home, won't likely be able to use points for that (as no saver awards currently), other than UR if the cost drops, so I'll continue watching the flight cost and if it drops consider booking it.
Hotels mainly hilton (using newly acquired points), marriott reward certs, hyatt (transfer from UR), and probs a cash stay at aulani (vs. rental with davids). Would try to earn as many UR's to cash out to help with other cash outlay-rental cars, aulani, first class flights, fees, etc.
This plan will likely take a solid 5-6 months, if not longer, with MSR of 3k, 5k, and 4k with two of those being amex. As most of my large bills are either in the first part or last part of the year. At the end would likely need to start booking some of the travel to meet the spends. Even if I don't end up going to hawaii, hilton is the right way forward, as I'm tapped out of marriott after using all of my points on my last trip and I'm locked out of sign out bonuses at this time. After making it through those three cards would need to consider retrying graavy train. Plan above keeps me at 4/24, so I would have room for another chase bus and/or chase personal card if the sign up bonus is very lucrative. Another card doesn't drop off until 1/2020, so need to be careful with personal cards to keep my options open.
/
kmc8826
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Lain
DIS Veteran
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AA printing miles like Monopoly money!
I mean, it's ridiculous when you think about it because AA makes more more money selling miles than seats. So I wonder how AA's co-branding partners Citi and Barclays feel about the upcoming devaluation.
Related: SEC Filing Shows American Airlines Loses Money Flying, All Profit Comes From Frequent Flyer Miles - FM
mmmears
DIS Legend
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I believe it. I have never seen an airline with such horrible customer service. It's really gone downhill lately. I have 140 genuine AA miles, but I could see the writing on the wall when they allowed the GrAAvy train to take off. The devaluation is not surprising.
SouthFayetteFan
Saving Money on Disney Vacations since 2006
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Ladies and Gentlemen of the DISchurners thread...my time has come!!
https://www.today.com/style/crop-to...vaQlkkbye2tB4vnYP8F90fqVJeTcGAirEwL9G7_jWAIRU
https://www.today.com/style/crop-to...vaQlkkbye2tB4vnYP8F90fqVJeTcGAirEwL9G7_jWAIRU
SouthFayetteFan
Saving Money on Disney Vacations since 2006
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I think some of the newer people are completely lost on this one...but let’s not create a need for eye bleach again....
wendow
We create happiness.
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amalone1013
DIS Veteran
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I wondered that too. Tuft and needle says something similar on their website, they clean them and then donate them.
SouthFayetteFan
Saving Money on Disney Vacations since 2006
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Barf
your stomach.(Am I doing this right @palhockeymomof2)
If @amalone1013 gets
I say @palhockeymomof2 gets
I want this one:
Any other thread regulars wanna “lay claim” to a smilie??
Last edited:
wendow
We create happiness.
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I like it! But not sure which is my fav. I most use
(Am I doing this right @palhockeymomof2)
If @amalone1013 gets
I say @palhockeymomof2 gets
I want this one:
Any other thread regulars wanna “lay claim” to a smilie??
and 
So, it appears I am either crazy or exploding mad lol!
SouthFayetteFan
Saving Money on Disney Vacations since 2006
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Hey - any of my URs for Universal Hotels friends...
First off, it seems these are fully refundable so I might as well lock something in now for our trip and I can re-think it later if I want and switch...
Secondly, will Universal release any discounts for on-site stays? I've never researched that lol. I assume if they did, those discounts could make their way into the UR portal and I could re-book for a discount?
First off, it seems these are fully refundable so I might as well lock something in now for our trip and I can re-think it later if I want and switch...
Secondly, will Universal release any discounts for on-site stays? I've never researched that lol. I assume if they did, those discounts could make their way into the UR portal and I could re-book for a discount?
wendow
We create happiness.
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Seriously making me want to plan a Universal trip. I just want something cool to use my UR's on. We've never been to Uni and aren't terribly drawn to going but using UR's to pay for the hotel there is so enticing...Makes me so sad, once again, that Disney fell off the UR portal and I'm left not understanding and SMH.
SouthFayetteFan
Saving Money on Disney Vacations since 2006
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Somewhat unrelated: I am completely out of touch with what travel costs!!
We are going to spend about 66 hours on the ground in Florida for this trip... Approx OOP costs without churning:
- $1,100 in flights
- $1,100 in hotel (3 nights)
- $1,100 in tickets (2 days)
- Food and some transportation additional
(These are approximates but funny how they all are roughly the same LOL).
So we have a $3,600+ trip on our hands!!
But I’m covering flights with a CP & RR pts and hotel and park tix with URs. Misc costs will be covered by some other misc cashback generated and so for me this trip costs nothing OOP. CRAZY! (And AWESOME!)
wendow
We create happiness.
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Knowing how many people actually pay OOP for this makes it more crazy and awesome
And I think that is what makes me want to do it lol. I know I could pay for it with points. Points that I cannot use for Disney 
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