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

[calypso726]

What are other good airline redemptions using AA miles, other than flying to Asia?

We've been to China, are going to India in December, and will be going to Australia next year. Dh wants to visit other parts of the world in 2021 and 2022!

Flying to/from Abu Dhabi on Etihad in the first class apartment (bucket list item). French Polynesia on Air Tahiti Nui. London in first on BA but the fuel charges will be super high. South America on Latam.

 

[LuckyMamaInDE]

Flying to/from Abu Dhabi on Etihad in the first class apartment (bucket list item). French Polynesia on Air Tahiti Nui. London in first on BA but the fuel charges will be super high. South America on Latam.

Mmmm South America--will have to look into that! Thank you very much

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Mmmm South America--will have to look into that! Thank you very much

 

[LuckyMamaInDE]

Hey

 

[DisneyMandC]

Flying to/from Abu Dhabi on Etihad in the first class apartment (bucket list item). French Polynesia on Air Tahiti Nui. London in first on BA but the fuel charges will be super high. South America on Latam.

Is there a good way to get to the UK without the crazy fuel charges? It’s not a super long flight from us here on the east coast and sometimes I wonder if it wouldn’t just be better to pay cash for economy and accrue some miles. I told DH about our convo here about the HP studio tour and he mentioned he’d like to do it.

 

[Haley R]

Always good to see your next flight delayed. I guess it’s better that that one is delayed and not the first one

 

[calypso726]

Is there a good way to get to the UK without the crazy fuel charges? It’s not a super long flight from us here on the east coast and sometimes I wonder if it wouldn’t just be better to pay cash for economy and accrue some miles. I told DH about our convo here about the HP studio tour and he mentioned he’d like to do it.

If you are flexible there are huge fare sales in economy all the time. Unfortunately, we can't be flexible with vacation time and I'm married to a Plane Princess

 

[DisneyMandC]

If you are flexible there are huge fare sales in economy all the time. Unfortunately, we can't be flexible with vacation time and I'm married to a Plane Princess

After I posted that, I thought to myself that you could never fly economy there because of the Plane Princess It’s about 7 hours from IAD to London which I could live with if I got an exceptionally low price. I flew ATL to HNL in economy once and survived despite sitting next to a lawyer for the flight.

 

[mmmears]

And now TPG is reporting it:
https://thepointsguy.com/news/amex-travel-credit-trigger-for-american-airlines-gift-cards-returns/

So basically TPG just skims DoC and makes money by copying what he says. All the while ruining everything for everyone else. But it's all good because he gets millions from the CC companies every month. And people like him.

True confession:

While I don't exactly have a a fear of heights, looking at the edge of a cliff or valley will cause my heart to race and I will start to feel sort of queasy and need to look away. I don't even have to be there, a picture of something like Pulpit Rock can trigger it.

Thinking of using AA miles to pay for a Disney hotel causes the same reaction

There may have been a little bit of FOMO going on when I discovered this since I am always happy to see when someone got a WDW reservation with AA miles While it isn't something I'd do for WDW, I thought it might be worth it for DLR. I got as far typing in the useaa miles website thinking I'd check to see if Grand California, Paradise Pier or Disneyland Hotel were bookable with AA miles and how many miles it would take when suddenly

Sigh ... I closed the tab and went back to bashing Bonblah for not having any availability at the Fairfield in Anaheim on points or cash for many consecutive months. Clearly there is something wrong with me

Yep. I looked at what it would cost for the DLH or the GCH and it just seems like a bad deal to me. Of course that's also because Disney is charging what (in my own mind anyway) I think are crazy prices for a standard non-view room there. On the plus side it's made it so much easier for me to skip DL vacations and go somewhere else instead.

 

[tink1970]

What are other good airline redemptions using AA miles, other than flying to Asia?

We've been to China, are going to India in December, and will be going to Australia next year. Dh wants to visit other parts of the world in 2021 and 2022!
[/QUOTE

When AA sent DH a mailer card, they had a list of "just a few of the places AAdvantage miles can take you (which included oneworld partner airlines)."

North America-lots of cities in the US, Canada, the Caribbean and Central America.
South America-Paraguay, Ecuador, Rio, Santiago, Uruguay (and more!)
Europe-Amsterdam to Zurich
Africa-Cairo, Cape Town, Nairobi, Dakar, Casablanca (and others)
Asia-Amman, Bangkok, Bejing, Delhi, Doha, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Singaport, Tel Aviv, Tokyo
Australia/NZ- AUckland, Brisbane, Cairns, Melbourne, Sydney

This is super helpful and I keep it in my "travel book" and it helps me dream I'm pretty familiar with Delta and United and with this list I know AA better, too. There are some really interesting places on the list.

 

[LuckyMamaInDE]

When AA sent DH a mailer (that I used) for their citi card, they had a list of "just a few of the places AAdvantage miles can take you (which included oneworld partner airlines)."

North America-lots of cities in the US, Canada, the Caribbean and Central America.
South America-Paraguay, Ecuador, Rio, Santiago, Uruguay (and more!)
Europe-Amsterdam to Zurich
Africa-Cairo, Cape Town, Nairobi, Dakar, Casablanca (and others)
Asia-Amman, Bangkok, Bejing, Delhi, Doha, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Singaport, Tel Aviv, Tokyo
Australia/NZ- AUckland, Brisbane, Cairns, Melbourne, Sydney

This is super helpful and I keep it in my "travel book" and it helps me dream I'm pretty familiar with Delta and United and with this list I know AA better, too. There are some really interesting places on the list.

I think we'd be most likely to go to South America, primarily for Machu Picchu and the Galapagos, or to Africa next (for wildlife).

I'm currently sitting on AA biz mailers that dh and I both received, with expiration dates of 7/31. We finished his CIP and have to start mine but aaaaaaaaaaaaah FOMO is real!

 

[WVMomof3]

I think we'd be most likely to go to South America, primarily for Machu Picchu and the Galapagos, or to Africa next (for wildlife).

DD is finishing her time in Africa with some more touring. She just spent a few days in Kruger and posted these pics.

 

[chattadisser]

DD is finishing her time in Africa with some more touring. She just spent a few days in Kruger and posted these pics.

View attachment 409382View attachment 409383

Oh, love these pictures! This is on my list of must dos. I might have to go by myself as I don't get much of a reaction from my family when I mention going to Africa. I mean, who doesn't want to see these creatures in real life???

 

[chattadisser]

Oh a somewhat separate note, did anyone else realize that there are Uber drivers that don't take tips? I didn't know this until we took Uber in NYC the other week out to LGA. Great trip, get there, get everything out and then once inside I go to rate and tip the driver. I very rarely have cash and always tip through the app. Well it wouldn't let me add a tip, so I sent a message to Uber and they responded that the driver has opted out of tips. I explained this to my DH as we were sitting there and he asked about it on a travel group that he is part of. Some had had the same thing happen before and said in some cultures they don't accept tips. I felt bad about it as I thought they made most of their money from tips but at the same time, there wasn't anything in the car about tips or wanting tips in cash so nothing else I could really do about. I had just never had the situation come up in several years of using Uber.

 

[bernina]

Usually 2-3 days, maybe 4.

But with the DPs about SW GC purchases not triggering the airline fee credit starting around 6/5, and @SouthFayetteFan's repost that spend from 6/7 didn't seem to be counting towards MSR, who knows if this is a glitch and how widespread it is.

All this kind of reminds me of what happened here:
https://www.doctorofcredit.com/rewards-glitch-for-american-express-purchases-made-on-january-31st/

Thanks. Lots of weird Amex stuff going on. I checked DH’s account and he shows 0 pending points and the 15,000 didn’t show up on his statement that just closed. I’ll check again next week but is this something I should ask on chat?

How did you get it to work?

Sorry for the long delay in replying. I did an online chat with Plastiq and by the time I got through the queue it was working. I read on Reddit that apparently they put in a fix that should correct it for everyone. If you’re still not seeing 1.5% just use online chat. They’re super helpful.

 

[bernina]

Has anyone created a new Ebates/Rakuten account to earn Amex MR? Anything to be aware of or any especially good deals?

 

[mmmears]

DD is finishing her time in Africa with some more touring. She just spent a few days in Kruger and posted these pics.

View attachment 409382View attachment 409383

Just amazing. Thanks for sharing these. I have a friend who is from SA and she visits Kruger whenever she goes home for a visit, and then I get to OOH and AH over the amazing pics. I'm glad your DD had time to tour there.

 

[Jax1023]

I won't at WDW but only because we have enough DVC points to cover our stays and FN Bonblech certs for when we don't. We drive up and can travel in our own car so we don't really need to stay on property. Not the same at DLR. We prefer to be on property or easy walking distance.

Asia and JAL with AA miles is more or less what went through my mind. My subconscious was all ... but, but, we're going back to TDL/TDS again

I’m the proud owner of a 2 year old who hates sleep. Seriously, she still barely sleeps through the night despite every sleep training method on earth.

As much as I’d love to jet off to japan, I think her and jet lag would make for the most miserable trip on earth.

Wdw is a good option right now. We don’t have to leave our time zone and it’s so tiring she actually sleeps lol. and free is best when your paying 18grand a year in childcare.

Hopefully in like 3-5 years I’ll be looking for the Asia advice. But right now, earn and burn for the current stage of life.

 

[Luvdancink]

SOrry if this is already answered but I couldn’t find it does the citiAA biz count towards the 5/24? And do they care how close you apply for it after the personal?

 

[Etonduf]

SOrry if this is already answered but I couldn’t find it does the citiAA biz count towards the 5/24? And do they care how close you apply for it after the personal?

It does not count towards 5/24, which one reason why everyone likes it so much! I believe the advice is to wait 95 days between Citi applications, but someone wiser than me will chime in on that.