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

[DisneyMandC]

Ugh, I wish Hilton was like Marriott and you could book points reservations without all the points in your account... I'm torn about what to do for Japan...

I want to stay two nights at the Conrad Osaka and use my free weekend night stays for that since it will be a Saturday and Sunday. However, I haven't earned those nights yet, and there has to be standard room award availability in order to use the free weekend nights. There are currently standard rooms available for 95k/night. I have enough points to book that as a placeholder and then (presumably) transfer it to my free weekend nights and get my points book. But then I don't have enough points to book three nights at the Hilton Tokyo Bay. It seems like there's more point availability at the Hilton Tokyo Bay since it's a big hotel with a ton of rooms, and that hotel is a lot cheaper in case I have to pay in cash, but I'm really hoping to make this a no cash trip.

Decisions.... if anyone has any input, feel free to shout it out!

eta: Hmmm I suppose if I got in a pinch on Hilton points availability at Hilton Tokyo Bay, I could always book a cash rate with URs... would lose out on the Hilton Gold status but that wouldn't be the end of the world.

 

[ten6mom]

Not related to churning (although it will involve a hotel stay... which I am unfortunately paying for out of pocket), but we are traveling by motorcycle to the four corners area tomorrow morning. Related to churning, we both need new front tires so yay for things that help meet MSR!

Also related to churning, I just found out (suppose I should have known) that there is a Graduation Fee before I can get my diploma! (Last class is over on September 4). I guess that's a small yay for things that help meet MSR!

 

[Judique]

Has anyone actually had a card from any issuer closed that is sock drawered that has an annual fee that has been paid? I've had several cards closed that were no annual fee cards, one from Chase years ago and actually many store cards.

To be clear, I'm talking about cards with no activity except to pay the annual fee.

 

[DisneyMandC]

Ha! Totally forgot DH used my support link for CIP3. Just logged in and saw the points in my account. Guess who's rolling in 23k URs right now!!

 

[calypso726]

What offer did you get from Hilton? I’m really hoping to get one of these as I’d rather pay a couple hundred than spend gobs of points out there.

The offer I got was in June. I know the offers changed since then as I was able to get one for a friend by pretending to be her on the phone.

My offer was 5 nights on the Big Island at the Hilton Waikoloa. It also came with a rental car and some Hilton Honors points but don’t recall how many. The cost was $799.

My friend’s offer was the same minus the rental but I managed to negotiate it into the offer and 25,000 Hilton Honors points which were in lieu of the rental car but we got to keep those for her too. In addition, she gets a RCCL cruise for up to 5 nights to be taken within 12 months after the Hawaii trip. Hers was about $1099 if memory serves.

We were both happy with our offers as I’m not interested in an RCCL cruise with limited itineraries that don’t appeal to me. Hope this helps.

 

[ten6mom]

Dumb question regarding the r thread about the CitiAA application language saying it's not applicable if you've opened an account in 24 months...

I am just on the Citi site right now and I see what must be the regular public offer for the Business AAdvantage Card. I don't see anything there about that 24 month restriction. Am I just not well enough acquainted with this kind of stuff? What am I missing? Is it only a concern because the mailers (with higher SUBs) have the 24 month language? The current offer I see is 60,000 miles after spending $3K in the first 3 months.

 

[speedyfishy]

Can I rant about US bank? I applied for their credit card in December and was denied because I didn't have a banking relationship with them. I went to sign up for their checking account for a $300 bonus and was denied. I am seeing on Doc that people are denied if there is no branch near them, but people are getting approved for the checking account if they have a credit card with them. Maybe ill try again for their credit card?

 

[DisneyMandC]

The offer I got was in June. I know the offers changed since then as I was able to get one for a friend by pretending to be her on the phone.

My offer was 5 nights on the Big Island at the Hilton Waikoloa. It also came with a rental car and some Hilton Honors points but don’t recall how many. The cost was $799.

My friend’s offer was the same minus the rental but I managed to negotiate it into the offer and 25,000 Hilton Honors points which were in lieu of the rental car but we got to keep those for her too. In addition, she gets a RCCL cruise for up to 5 nights to be taken within 12 months after the Hawaii trip. Hers was about $1099 if memory serves.

We were both happy with our offers as I’m not interested in an RCCL cruise with limited itineraries that don’t appeal to me. Hope this helps.

Very helpful, thanks! I'm hoping I can kind of accumulate some of these offers and then make a decision on which island we want to go to. We know for sure we will want to fly into Honolulu and spend two nights there since DH wants to see one of his favorite comedians perform his annual show there, so I figure I'll just pick a lower end Hilton or Marriott to stay at there. We've done Oahu before so don't need to spend a bunch of time there or stay anywhere fancy. We're willing to spend the rest of the trip on any of the other islands, so I think it will just come down to what's the best points value/offer we get.

 

[LuckyMamaInDE]

Beijing is not Shanghai.

The city was a sprawling mess of construction everywhere. Traffic was terrible. The air pollution turned my snot and spit black after just a day. My eyes were burning! The chilly arid desert climate in early spring cracked my skin and chapped my lips so bad that I was a bloody mess. Death by a thousand cuts! The public facilities left a lot to be desired. Seriously, we were expected to judge the cleanliness of and amenities in many public restrooms by the plaques outside displaying their “star” ratings. At several tourist areas, we had to buy packs of tissues from the hawkers staked outside restrooms if we needed something to wipe with. Compare this to Tokyo, where promoters often hand out free tissue packets with ads on them. If I have to eat one more mantou bun for breakfast, I’m just going to gag and call it quits. Give me the taste and variety of dim sum any day! Lastly, Beijingers, at least the ones we interacted with, are very brusque.

Never again.

Helps validate that we only need one day to see the wall and the forbidden city. Probably end up flying in late evening and then out late evening simply because of luggage but I haven't decided. Got plenty of time to figure it out though.

in terms of things to see, i find Beijing a lot more thing to do than Shanghai. To me, both cities' pollution is just as bad. I think we went in april where the weather was cold, so the air wasnt too bad in Beijing.
also, probably should say, China ppl are pretty racist against foreigner. Remember though, China government has control of the media and does in fact push out fake news to make people think that.
Example: was at a play, some non-asian were in the presidential suite, ppl around me were screaming for them to get out, that they dont deserve sitting there.

The Great Wall is cool, but very crowded. Crowds lighten up the farther and higher up you get. The Forbidden City was crowded too, but the tours groups are pretty organized. Our tour of the Forbidden City was just being led from one building or room to another, but all that really gave you a sense of the sheer scale of the place. I remember thinking that the Temple of Heaven was really beautiful and impressive. We visited the Summer Palace too, which was nice.

You make me feel so much better about not being able to go to China. (Asthma issues). Shanghai is really where I'd want to visit, but it's just not worth it.

its not as bad as ppl make it out to be... granted air traffic does shut down due to smog and when asking kids the color of the sun ends with , its still a lot of fun... I did a week tour there and i had so much fun there.
i am def looking forward to check out where they film avatar though, that place looks amazing...

perhaps i live in LA where smog is bad too... lol

Forbidden City is excellent, the Wall near Beijing not so much. I agree with Lain and Calypso -- once and done.

We were in China during early-mid June. One out of 4 days spent in the Beijing area had bad air pollution. Our first full day the sky was so blue I felt like I was in southern Utah---seriously. The other 2 days seemed just hazy. Shanghai was a bit different because it rained A LOT. And one day the pollution was so bad we couldn't see across to the adjacent building when we were up on an observation floor across the river from the Bund.

No pollution in Xi'an. I would go back to that city in a hot second. Very walkable if you stay inside the walls.

I thought Beijing was fascinating with all the history everywhere. I think it helped that we were touring with a small group lead by friends who grew up in Beijing and who return every year to visit family. We didn't have crowds at the Forbidden City and at the Summer Palace. Tiananmen Square was pretty crowded. We went to a portion of the Wall where Western tourists don't go mainly because it's further out from the city. There were still lots of Chinese tourists!

I like wandering around Shanghai, seeing the combination of little side streets with old buildings and then huge glitzy shops. We had the best Indian food of our lives (so far lol) in Shanghai!

She just finished her Tokyo character audition. Said there 261 people there and she made it to the final 30 or so. This was her first auditions so we are super excited she made it so far. Now she is planning to travel all over to many auditions in the future. She needs to get another job for all that! Ha!

We know someone who spent a year as a friend to Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. Best of luck to your dd!

 

[Alexle2007]

Last day of work before vacation! I have a chiro appointment tonight for traction to loosen my back before I'm shoved like a sardine into coach. #IThinkICan

I did repack last night and added in all of DH's crap too. Got it all in one checked bag.

Have a terrific time! It's my last day also before we head to Universal for the week tomorrow. And I'll admit that I have yet to pack

 

[Judique]

Ugh, I wish Hilton was like Marriott and you could book points reservations without all the points in your account... I'm torn about what to do for Japan...

I want to stay two nights at the Conrad Osaka and use my free weekend night stays for that since it will be a Saturday and Sunday. However, I haven't earned those nights yet, and there has to be standard room award availability in order to use the free weekend nights. There are currently standard rooms available for 95k/night. I have enough points to book that as a placeholder and then (presumably) transfer it to my free weekend nights and get my points book. But then I don't have enough points to book three nights at the Hilton Tokyo Bay. It seems like there's more point availability at the Hilton Tokyo Bay since it's a big hotel with a ton of rooms, and that hotel is a lot cheaper in case I have to pay in cash, but I'm really hoping to make this a no cash trip.

Decisions.... if anyone has any input, feel free to shout it out!

eta: Hmmm I suppose if I got in a pinch on Hilton points availability at Hilton Tokyo Bay, I could always book a cash rate with URs... would lose out on the Hilton Gold status but that wouldn't be the end of the world.

Just wondering how the 'flexible points and money' work? Can you add points to lower the cash after the initial booking? I'm an honors member since way back but don't have any points right now and have never booked anything there except with cash.

 

[miztressuz]

Dumb question regarding the r thread about the CitiAA application language saying it's not applicable if you've opened an account in 24 months...

I am just on the Citi site right now and I see what must be the regular public offer for the Business AAdvantage Card. I don't see anything there about that 24 month restriction. Am I just not well enough acquainted with this kind of stuff? What am I missing? Is it only a concern because the mailers (with higher SUBs) have the 24 month language? The current offer I see is 60,000 miles after spending $3K in the first 3 months.

Scroll to the bottom of the page with the fine print. It says
OFFER AVAILABILITY
American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles are not available if you have received a new account bonus for a CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® account in the past 48 months.

That's the important section to read through on any offer, sometimes it's at the bottom of a page, other times there may be a link to another page with it.

What's changing is that mailers did NOT include this language. That's why everyone talks about them. Now some mailers have that language added to the application page so it's not as easy to get multiple bonuses now. There are still some ways left but there are less sure things once mailers fully change over.

 

[speedyfishy]

I finally made up my mind for our Disneyland trip. Im spending our arrival night at the Four Points by Sheraton Anaheim. I used 25,000 Marriott points and now im down to a few hundred lol. Then for our next four nights I used 61,000 AA miles to stay at the Hilton Anaheim. SO is complaining that it is far and we have to switch hotel rooms but I really didn't want to spend a lot of money.

 

[DisneyMandC]

Just wondering how the 'flexible points and money' work? Can you add points to lower the cash after the initial booking? I'm an honors member since way back but don't have any points right now and have never booked anything there except with cash.

I think @Haley R previously told me that you could, pending award availability. I think if award availability is gone that you can't add anymore points to lower your cash rate. Booking the Conrad would take all my current Hilton points, but I would have enough for two nights at Hilton Tokyo Bay one I finish MSR on Surpass. I guess I just need to get that done faster haha.

I finally made up my mind for our Disneyland trip. Im spending our arrival night at the Four Points by Sheraton Anaheim. I used 25,000 Marriott points and now im down to a few hundred lol. Then for our next four nights I used 61,000 AA miles to stay at the Hilton Anaheim. SO is complaining that it is far and we have to switch hotel rooms but I really didn't want to spend a lot of money.

It's really not too far away. I mean, more of a walk than the Sheraton, but we walked it 2 times round trip one day last year no problem, and that was running on very little sleep haha.

 

[speedyfishy]

I think @Haley R previously told me that you could, pending award availability. I think if award availability is gone that you can't add anymore points to lower your cash rate. Booking the Conrad would take all my current Hilton points, but I would have enough for two nights at Hilton Tokyo Bay one I finish MSR on Surpass. I guess I just need to get that done faster haha.



It's really not too far away. I mean, more of a walk than the Sheraton, but we walked it 2 times round trip one day last year no problem, and that was running on very little sleep haha.

I think the walk is fine. We did Uber back to the Fairfield a few times after late dinners at Steakhouse 55 and Naples lol. I’m excited to try the Hilton. We watched the DIS 7 in 7 things at Disneyland and they were all really fond of the Hilton and SO said it looked nice at the time we were watching. Now he wants to just do the Fairfield again. He didn’t even want to stay there the first time. Iol

did you have Gold status when you stayed there? What was the free breakfast?

 

[tink1970]

And unpopular opinion- Venice. Loved Florence, would go back to Rome and Tuscany in second, but Venice to me was just blah.

LOL-I had heard that Venice was smelly and old and full of tourists so I was worried it was going to be NoLA of Europe. When we went it was lovely and I can't wait to return. That said, it was December and I can understand how it would be crowded and stinky in the summer. Having been to Italy in July and December, no way would I return in summer. Winter or spring? Definitely.

I loved Florence too but Rome, meh. I could never return to Rome and be fine, which is sad because I thought I'd love it.

We are scheduled to skip Florence. What did you like about it?

I loved Florence for the art (David is truly awe inspiring and the Uffizi is so huge and overwhelming but full of amazing things), shopping (gloves and jackets and boots oh my!), and it's walkable and charming. Oh, and the food, too, of course.

 

[DisneyMandC]

I think the walk is fine. We did Uber back to the Fairfield a few times after late dinners at Steakhouse 55 and Naples lol. I’m excited to try the Hilton. We watched the DIS 7 in 7 things at Disneyland and they were all really fond of the Hilton and SO said it looked nice at the time we were watching. Now he wants to just do the Fairfield again. He didn’t even want to stay there the first time. Iol

did you have Gold status when you stayed there? What was the free breakfast?

I did have gold status, but we did not take advantage of the breakfast. We got there at 10 AM the first day after our flight, and then the second day we just got Starbucks and headed straight to DCA. I can't remember what we did the third day. DH is a little apprehensive of hotel breakfasts lol. I think we just went to Starbucks in Downtown Disney.

 

[speedyfishy]

I did have gold status, but we did not take advantage of the breakfast. We got there at 10 AM the first day after our flight, and then the second day we just got Starbucks and headed straight to DCA. I can't remember what we did the third day. DH is a little apprehensive of hotel breakfasts lol. I think we just went to Starbucks in Downtown Disney.

Did you get points? I’d probably take points over a breakfast. I like eating at DL lol we normally wait until like 10am and get lunch food. I never adjust to the time difference. One day I got Bengal beef skewers at 9am when they opened, there was no line lol

 

[georgina]

Can I rant about US bank? I applied for their credit card in December and was denied because I didn't have a banking relationship with them. I went to sign up for their checking account for a $300 bonus and was denied. I am seeing on Doc that people are denied if there is no branch near them, but people are getting approved for the checking account if they have a credit card with them. Maybe ill try again for their credit card?

Random thought - My REI credit card is issued by US Bank. No annual fee. It's $20 to join REI, depending on how badly you want to establish a relationship with USBank, may be a pathway.

 

[afan]

Spoke with the maintenance guy at my mgmt co this morning. It's not really a hole in the floor. Thr guy that put in the ac/furnance when I bought the house didn't do the vent holes properly so when the person stepped on/next to the vent part of the wood floor split.

He said it wouldn't take much to fix and it'd probably be about 150. So that all makes me feel better.