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

[Lain]

Now I'm nervous that my upgrade from the Biz Green to the Biz Plat won't work. 10k of spend would be a big waste if they are going to be pains about giving the points offered in the upgrade...

Did you screen-cap your upgrade offer?

I always make it a practice to take a screenshot of applications, upgrades, chats, and secure messages.

 

[PolyRob]

Thanks! I have my Halloween magic band from last year and Dh just used the PH card for now. I didn’t know we could pick one of the $10 bands. We’ll just wait then because I’d rather do that. I wonder when they’ll finally restock those

Sounds like you guys are set for now! IDK if Disney will make an announcement when the patterned bands are back, but I am sure one of us will chime in with news. I personally know I have an Oct and Dec trip I will be checking on and can report back when I see them.

 

[magickingdomprincess]

Been meaning to share a short summary our our trip so here goes! We got back from our Disney/Universal/beach trip on Sat night. We had a blast! We spent two nights at PBH, I love UO for the relaxed touring, no planning needed! Just get in line for whatever we’re in the mood for, wo different than WDW! Kids both got interactive wands – those spells are kind of hard! We all had fun with it though. Ate dinner at Margaritaville- nachos were yummy and had a live band who took requests which was fun. Also had Voodoo Donuts for breakfast – they were delicious! Very fresh. Can’t wait to go back for Hagrid’s!

Spent the next 5 nights at BCV (using our DVC points). This was neat because even though it’s our home resort, the little ones had never stayed there (had been staying closer to MK on previous trips). The room was really nice, refurbished since we’d been there last, the kids loved the pool. I even remembered the “shortcut” to Epcot. Oh, and I saw Pete from the Disunplugged! He was filming a review so I didn’t get to talk to him, but I did talk to @WebmasterJackie who was super sweet! Of course we were on our way to the pool and I didn’t have my phone for a pic- just my luck! We had a great time at the parks, DD6 rode Space Mtn for the first time, in the front row with hands up! We did EMM at MK and TSL and enjoyed both. We rode SDD 6 times! Such a fun ride. This was our first time in TSL and really enjoyed it! DH and I also got a night out - the kids went to the Captain Hook Pirate thing at the Beach Club, and we had dinner at Homecomin - still thinking about that yummy mac and cheese! Shared a side of it and still had leftovers twice! Had BOG lunch - was disappointed in the change from braised pork to chicken and asparagus instead of green beans. Still good but not near as good as before IMO.

Ended our trip with 2 nights at Vero Beach. Didn’t leave the resort, spent most of the day at the beach, saw a dolphin swimming (super exciting!), and had fun playing in the waves and sand. Such a nice, relaxing way to end a busy vacation.

As far as churning goes, we used SW RR’s and my CP for our flights, my CIP #1 bonus cashout to rent points from David's for VB, and DH’s Arrival + bonus for PBH. We used discounted DGC’s for our Disney Gold AP’s, and seasonal AP’s for Universal that we upgraded UCT tix from last year for $20 total. Our car rental will be erased using my Arrival + bonus (just met the spend today for this!).

I wanted to share since I would never have been able to accomplish this trip at the price we did without this thread and all of the awesome people on it! Thanks so much to everyone who posts!

 

[Haley R]

The passholder food and wine daisy magnet we picked up at Mousegear

Did you get it during food and wine? I’m assuming they’re only available during the festivals?

 

[palhockeymomof2]

Did you get it during food and wine? I’m assuming they’re only available during the festivals?

Yes only during the festival....didn’t know if it was still going on or not...
Edit...to add...if it’s not and you would like one send me a pm and I can mail our extra one if your interested

 

[Oscar Madison]

Broke down and bought the Platinum AP at Sam's last night. P2 and I are heading down for 4 nights in July but are going to stick with original plan and not visit the parks, so I'm going to hoard the voucher until we get a better handle on future trips.

Since my original AP expired yesterday, can I add the new voucher to MDE without starting the clock?

 

[Lain]

I would try it but I know some people aren’t a fan of filing a CFPB complaint.

Sure, when you're exploiting loopholes you don't want the feds or the banks to be looking into, or one you can't seriously think you have any legs to stand on. For example, I would never consider filing a complaint if a certain bank didn't reward me a bonus for my third or fourth cip from a certain cup, especially when they have in their certifications the following language: "I understand that any new cardmember bonus offers for this product are not available to either current or previous cardmembers of this product who received a new cardmember bonus for this product in the last 24 months." But I'm sure some of the entitled scum over at reddit would go ahead with a complaint anyway.

In @vanjust14's case, if Amex displayed an upgrade offer to her, that's a legitimate offer that she accepted, relied upon and performed. Same with @elgerber's missing signup bonus. I'd have no qualms about filing a CFPB complaint in either case.

 

[elgerber]

Broke down and bought the Platinum AP at Sam's last night. P2 and I are heading down for 4 nights in July but are going to stick with original plan and not visit the parks, so I'm going to hoard the voucher until we get a better handle on future trips.

Since my original AP expired yesterday, can I add the new voucher to MDE without starting the clock?

Yes, the clock wont' start until it's activated

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Yeah he says people could actually touch it or sneeze in it. I hear a rant about how when he is in the bathroom so many men leave without washing their hands and it’s disgusting and those same people are eating at these buffets lol And then omg one time he saw the serving utensil that someone just put on the counter and not in the food or resting on the place that it was supposed to be and he freaked saying this is why he doesn’t eat from buffets lol.

I don’t blame him. I avaoid buffets too and have all the same concerns. People are gross.

 

[Judique]

FTFY it sounds like I need to reconsider my relationship with the hotel remote. Lol.

Don't put it in your mouth - thinking toddlers here, and at least hope it has fresh batteries. Wash hands before eating.

Big item: wash hands.

If you are someone who gets sick easily and often, you may want to reconsider your approach to such things, but overall, I am not paranoid about most of this.

I just read a last year's thread on giving up mouse keeping in favor of a giftcard. Wow, just wow!

First the 'how disgusting will the room be without maid service for 3 nights' and then the guy who thinks you should use a single towel for your whole visit whether it is 1 night or 10 nights because according to him it's not 'dirty' when used after a clean shower. I'm thinking of all the dead skin cells that are all over it after 10 nights.

Personally I'd love the gift card, but it is a 'personal' choice and no judgey.

 

[PolyRob]

Did you get it during food and wine? I’m assuming they’re only available during the festivals?

Disney does different things for passholders from time-to-time.

2016 F&G you got prints, 2016 F&W you got an etched glass (after multiple Epcot entrances), 2017 F&W was a sad Remy pin, 2018 F&W was a cute magnet and cutting board (after multiple Epcot entrances), etc.

2017 is when the "seasonal" magnet started. It was a holiday Mickey in DHS (no Epcot festival). They were giving out unlimited quantities. Then it became 1 magnet per AP and the location has shuffled around a few times depending on where Disney wants foot traffic. I remember last summer Donald (no Festival) started in DHS, then moved to Epcot.

 

[Haley R]

Yes only during the festival....didn’t know if it was still going on or not...
Edit...to add...if it’s not and you would like one send me a pm and I can mail our extra one if your interested

Thanks for the offer. I’ll just wait until food and wine starts this year!

 

[Haley R]

Disney does different things for passholders from time-to-time.

2016 F&G you got prints, 2016 F&W you got an etched glass (after multiple Epcot entrances), 2017 F&W was a sad Remy pin, 2018 F&W was a cute magnet and cutting board (after multiple Epcot entrances), etc.

2017 is when the "seasonal" magnet started. It was a holiday Mickey in DHS (no Epcot festival). They were giving out unlimited quantities. Then it became 1 magnet per AP and the location has shuffled around a few times depending on where Disney wants foot traffic. I remember last summer Donald (no Festival) started in DHS, then moved to Epcot.

Is there a thread that keeps track of all of these?

 

[striker1064]

Warning: Random strategy discussion to follow:

Boy this new SW card has thrown me for a bit of a loop. I really want to keep drinking from the cup while that loophole is open. BUT, I have a SW CP that expires on 12/31/19. AND I've earned 29k SW points this year so this ONE biz card and it's 85k points would earn me a CP for 2020... I don't have to decide now, but to ensure the points posted before the end of the year I probably need to make this move in the next 3-4 months. CIP2 for me is scheduled for August and if I pull the trigger on that, I'd probably want to wait until November to apply for another Chase biz card. That would be too late IMO to try this because I don't want to cut it too close and miss out.

Ok but then...what if I timed this for a 2020/2021 CP? Maybe self-support comes to this card. I could get 10k from self-support, 80k from the bonus, and 5k from the base. Now I'm just 15k away from a CP... I could upgrade my personal to a priority and do an advance on my 7,500 anniv points via a refundable SW fare...I could also do an advance on my 9k anniv points on the biz card again via a refundable SW fare...boom I have a 2020/2021 CP.

Hmmmmm...I have a lot to think about here. And this still comes back to, do I prefer having the CP over just drinking from the cup until it flips over.

Just to annoy you even further, I would be concerned this 80k is an introductory-type offer that could go away in a couple of months. Who knows for sure though.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Kind of a poll for you all as my dh is filling out travel stuff for his job. If you could choose any hotel chain to earn points from (where work was paying), which would you choose?

Hyatt. Unfortunately that doesn’t work for my DH because there are few where he travels.

 

[Judique]

We’ve finally had some time to settle in a bit and made a frozen pizza (that they left in their freezer lol). So it almost feels like we bought a partially furnished house. They left so many cool decorations and even a whole patio set! All of the shower curtains were left, all of the bathroom accessories, they left the freezer full of unopened snacks, large area rugs, lamps. They had asked us if they could leave some decorations and we said yes but they left so much! We love it because now the walls aren’t bare. I’ll attach some picture so you can see some of it. The dining room furniture, kitchen table, bar stools, and living set we knew they were going to leave.

darn, they took the TV!!! From in front of the couch....if they didn't you wouldn't need much.
Now, where are you guys going to put all your stuff or did you leave a lot behind and are traveling light?

Enjoy your new home and make sure the cats don't get out and into the moving van when it comes. It may smell like 'home' to them after your stuff being in it.

 

[Andysol]

Do you have to pay for the entire trip on the CSR to be covered? Wondering if you did a deposit on the CSR, booked flights via UR portal from the CSR, and paid off the remainder some other way (like Disney gift cards...)

Only a portion. Example: if you flew southwest on points, you only have to pay the taxes and fees for it to be covered. Hotel could’ve been DVC points, etc.

Flights via UR CSR Portal would be more than enough to cover you. $500/person so a family of 4 would cover up to $2k in expenses.

 

[Haley R]

darn, they took the TV!!! From in front of the couch....if they didn't you wouldn't need much.
Now, where are you guys going to put all your stuff or did you leave a lot behind and are traveling light?

Enjoy your new home and make sure the cats don't get out and into the moving van when it comes. It may smell like 'home' to them after your stuff being in it.

Haha they had a huge tv there too. We don’t actually have cable or anything anyway (only Netflix). We play our Xbox and wiiu sometimes though.

We don’t really have much stuff and knew most of the things that they had planned to leave. We’ll just end up taking a load to goodwill I’m sure. The moving van is scheduled to come anytime between now and July 2.

 

[PolyRob]

Is there a thread that keeps track of all of these?

Hmm there must be one out there somewhere. I haven’t seen/participated in one here. I follow the passholder Facebook page and many of the news threads. You will also see it posted on the passholder page people are frantically refreshing looking for SWGE news. If you’re lucky enough to get the emails (some do, some don’t) it will also be in that. If it’s not a last minute addition, it will also be in the Mickey monitor which is mailed out to passholders (unless you’re me because something is really wrong with my communication settings). The Mickey monitors are also posted electronically online now. If you scroll all the way down in the passholder page you will see the most recent one and a link for all the old ones.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

I think program-wise, Hyatt has the best right now after Marriott Bonvoyed SPG.

But in terms of footprint, Hyatt has far fewer locations than Marriott or Hilton, which can really inconvenience DH if he has to travel and can’t find a suitable Hyatt nearby.

Comparing the two biggest chains, Marriott or Hilton, I’d probably go with Hilton’s program if I was paid/reimbursed for travel. Remember, @disneymagicgirl’s DH travels a lot for work and tends to stay at Hiltons. Maybe she could chime in? I guess the major thing is with Hilton and paid stays, it’s so easy to earn lots of points. Unfortunately, I think your DH needs to charge travel to the corporate card, right? So he wouldn’t get the additional earning power of charging a Hilton stay to the Hilton Biz, Ascend, or Aspire. But these cards could still boost him to automatic Gold or Diamond status, which would give him a bump in the points he earns for stays as an elite member regardless of what card it gets charged to, and would give him the perks of room upgrades and free breakfast.

I agree with all this. Hyatt would be my choice if he is traveling to places where they are available.
My DH just doesn’t, so he has been committed to Hilton for 10+ years now. The perks are good for when you travel to use his points...waived resort fees, occasional upgrade, 5th night free, free breakfast...and the is almost always an embassy or Homewood around that will sleep all of you.

Downside...with the latest deval I have come to conclude that to extract good value out of Hilton points, I need to redeem for higher end properties. So for example, they just upped a HGI and HS in Charleston that we have stayed at, both to 50k/night. They run well under $200 a night. Super annoying. So I am now trying to figure out plan B for my extended chs trip in july and am going to hold onto those points for the beach or Hawaii or something instead. I just can’t see wiping out 600k points on 15 nights in a Charleston suburb, no matter how much I love it.