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

[gottalovepluto]

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[wed100105]

No, status matches don't go both ways.


It looks like, from my very quick googling, Marriott doesn't match but they do offer challenges. Unfortunately, if TPG is right, he's too late as they state reports are challenges start in the month after enrollment. Personally, I would call for details anyway, just in case the "starts the next month" part is not accurate. Also, you don't want to throw away the challenge (sign up and then not complete it) because there might be a limit like only trying once a year or something.


ETA: Here's a handy website for getting an idea about status matching various programs http://www.statusmatcher.com/

Thanks; I had read TPG's post about status matches, too. I wondered if it meant that the 90 days might start when you call about the challenge, but you get that extra time as a grace period. Does that make sense? Like it would count now, but officially his 90 days are up in almost 4 months (in this case). I'll have him call. He hates dealing with this stuff. Thank you!

 

[LB002]

FYI the Disney tickets I got from DL vacation packages were emailed to me directly from Disney, so I'm assuming those will be upgradable.

Are there any terms and conditions?

 

[AmyAnne]

Ugh, can I just vent for a second?

We took our dog to my ILs house a month ago when we were out of town and my mom couldn't take care of him. He came home and was itchy and having skin allergies, and I figured my MIL had fed him something she wasn't supposed to (he has digestive problems/allergies). I put him on prednisone and he continued to itch so I finally took him to the vet to discover he has FLEAS. I was absolutely disgusted!! I have never had a flea problem with any of my pets before, and there's nowhere else he could have picked it up other than her house. So we gave him Capstar to kill the fleas on him, on top of the fact that he was already wearing a Seresto collar. But of course, at this point, he's been in our house for 10 days and we have two cats. So now I'm having the house treated today. I've had a vet visit, a prescription, three doses of Capstar, just bought Capstar for both cats, bought another Seresto collar, and had to pay to have the house bombed. Now I have to come home from work tonight and wash literally everything in the house that's a fabric that can go in the washing machine and vacuum everything really good/wipe up any residue from the bomb. I've spent over $250 treating a problem that wasn't even mine to begin with! OVER IT!!

Use diatomaceous earth in your carpets -- it's very effective and it won't harm your pets.

 

[kidsfirsttrip]

Are there any terms and conditions?

Nope. Just first day has to be used by 12/31/2020 and says "flexible date tickets" and "after expiration price paid for a wholly unused ticket can be applied to the purchase of a new ticket with an equal or highter price"

 

[DisneyMandC]

Use diatomaceous earth in your carpets -- it's very effective and it won't harm your pets.

No carpeting at all in our house Unless you count the bathroom rug lol. We actually do use diatomaceous earth outside our home a lot and feed it to our horses.

 

[LilSweetPeaPhoto]

I matched Hilton Gold to Choice Platinum. Choice said they will not let you status match any higher than Platinum.

Do you just contact them? I have Hilton Diamond, IHG Platinum and nothing w/ Marriot, Choice, or Hyatt these days, LOL

 

[DisneyMandC]

Do you just contact them? I have Hilton Diamond, IHG Platinum and nothing w/ Marriot, Choice, or Hyatt these days, LOL

Yes, I just sent an email to Choice through their website. Whatever brand you're matching from must show your full name and your status. Marriott only showed my first name and Gold but Hilton showed my full name and Gold so I sent them that and they matched me almost immediately. I have not tried anything with Hyatt, I feel like I've heard they won't match much... Somebody correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[AmyAnne]

No carpeting at all in our house Unless you count the bathroom rug lol. We actually do use diatomaceous earth outside our home a lot and feed it to our horses.

I just read your post about not having carpets and thinking the fleas would most likely be in your couch--I'd douse the couch in diatomaceous earth and cover it with a blanket then vacuum it off in a few days. I love that stuff--kills every kind of crawling bug in my garage.

 

[mmmears]

Sitting in the Air France lounge at CDG (waiting for our connecting flight) thanks to you wonderful people and all the great advice you shared with me. Thank you - I feel so fortunate to be able to take this trip at all, let alone in J. Thank you!!!!



Marriott question - please send any advice my way on this one. Has anyone been able to upgrade a points room with cash? They won't let us book the room we want with points, just a standard room or a suite that is far more than we need (and far more than we want to spend). The issue here is that we *might* need a room for 3 and in Europe standard rooms only fit 2. The room for 3 isn't much more, cash wise, but they won't give it to us for points. Is using URs my only way around this? Other than dropping a few thousand dollars for 4 nights, that is? That last option isn't an option - I'd rather stay somewhere else if I have to pay cash. Really annoyed with Marriott at the moment. I did book the room for 2, so at least we are covered if DD can't join us, but then it'll be a mess if she can. And she won't know until much closer to the actual date.

 

[Judique]

For those that have done repositioning flights within Europe, what carriers have you used that didn’t charge a fortune for checked bags? Ryan Air is cheap but it’s showing $100 for checked bags.

Daughter used avios to fly to Europe for a week or so last year. She was going to Spain and traveled around while there using a rental car, ending up in Bilboa, Spain. She bought a cash ticket on Aer Lingus and flew to Dublin for $57, and her suitcase (huge - not the little 22inch that I use) flew for $42. Then returned to the US using avios. This was of course to avoid the fuel surcharges. She stayed in Dublin for 2 nights and really enjoyed it and I got an Irish fisherman's sweater and wool scarf, plus some other sweets out of the deal so she spent her savings. I'm not sure but I think they flew into Madrid, rented the car, drove to Barcelona, the beach, crossed into and out of France, went along the coast to Oviedo where she used to teach and then back to Bilboa from where they flew to Ireland. Now she wants to go back to Ireland but her next trip this month is to Germany for Oktoberfest. I get to babysit but she better bring me some chocolate!

 

[disneybirds]

Is it better to put the airfare window you want on hold or the hotel? I'm assuming put the airfare on hold as that the "bigger" component.

I think you will have to pick a hotel for all the days and the flights. It is like a step one, two, three, process. The site is very buggy, so give yourself plenty of time.

 

[PolyRob]

I totally lost the screenshot, but Chase tried to tempt me with my CIP bonus as a Starbucks gift card

"You have 84,417 points which equals $844.17 as a gift card to Starbucks" (or something close to that) with the button all ready to go to the gift card page. Uh... Let me think on that a bit - NO.

Totally doesn't make sense, what makes sense is going for the Starbuck CC, right @DisneyMandC ?

 

[mmmears]

For those that have done repositioning flights within Europe, what carriers have you used that didn’t charge a fortune for checked bags? Ryan Air is cheap but it’s showing $100 for checked bags.

We usually don't check bags, but DD needed to this time since it was more of a move than a trip. She flew on Air France because she had one bag included and the carriers that were cheaper would have ended up costing more once we added in the one suitcase.

Also, check and see if you can get to your destination with points. In a weird turn of events, AF is charging us fewer miles to fly to both Oslo and CPH (different trips), stopping at CDG, than they want for the direct flight home from CDG.

 

[PolyRob]

A discussion on the Schwab bank bonus from r/churning prompted me to look at it again and I just discovered that they changed the bonus.

It had been, open a brokerage account and we'll give you $100. If you opened just the brokerage itself there was a 1k deposit needed to avoid fees but if you opened the linked checking account, that would waive the fees without needing the 1k deposit. I think almost all of us opened with the linked checking and deposited $0-100 and got the bonus.

Now they offer a bonus up to $500 but all amounts require a net deposit into the brokerage account within 45 days to receive the bonus.

View attachment 432815

It's still not bad for folks who want to use the account anyway, just have to put a little more skin in the game this way.

Very interesting! Is it advisable to open one of these accounts if you would ever like to cash out MRs via Schwab? I know you need the CC too, but does having this already make the process easier in the future?

 

[brownhaired_girl]

Anyone know if SWA is still offering the 50k offer inflight?

I didn't look on the flight, but there was a sign at our gate at Midway on Sunday with a 50k offer.

I have been wondering this also. DM and I will be working toward CP later this year. We are flying to Fort Meyers Saturday for a week at the Hyatt Coconut Plantation timeshare in Bonita Springs. We went there last year and had an amazing, relaxing, vacation. We had no schedule and no expectations. I was planning to check for the 50,000 point availability when we are flying. We would wait and apply during our December HI trip.

 

[striker1064]

Very interesting! Is it advisable to open one of these accounts if you would ever like to cash out MRs via Schwab? I know you need the CC too, but does having this already make the process easier in the future?

If you think you will ever want to cash out MRs, open the Schwab account now. There's no fee to keep it open - mine sits with literally $1 each in checking and brokerage - but Schwab is sensitive to too many bank accounts and has closed accounts after opening in the past.

 

[LB002]

Nope. Just first day has to be used by 12/31/2020 and says "flexible date tickets" and "after expiration price paid for a wholly unused ticket can be applied to the purchase of a new ticket with an equal or highter price"

That's interesting wording re: unused ticket being able to be credited to new ticket after expiration.

 

[Lain]

Marriott question - please send any advice my way on this one. Has anyone been able to upgrade a points room with cash? They won't let us book the room we want with points, just a standard room or a suite that is far more than we need (and far more than we want to spend). The issue here is that we *might* need a room for 3 and in Europe standard rooms only fit 2. The room for 3 isn't much more, cash wise, but they won't give it to us for points. Is using URs my only way around this? Other than dropping a few thousand dollars for 4 nights, that is? That last option isn't an option - I'd rather stay somewhere else if I have to pay cash. Really annoyed with Marriott at the moment. I did book the room for 2, so at least we are covered if DD can't join us, but then it'll be a mess if she can. And she won't know until much closer to the actual date.

Upgrading a standard award reservation with cash or paying more points for an upgraded room depends on the property and what they make available.

TPG actually had a pretty good article about this recently (just ignore the shilly bits at the end):
https://thepointsguy.com/guide/redeem-marriott-points-upgraded-rooms/

 

[mmmears]

And for those of you who share my love of Friends, when the flight attendant announcements were done with such rapid French we couldn't follow along, DH started quoted Joey speaking French "A poo poo!"