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

[Ngwira]

5 day hopper with MaxPass. Already used CSR TC for one, need 2 more.

Nice. I paid cash for my two day with maxpass.. luckily I had a minimum spend to hit.

 

[miztressuz]

I know we didn’t go with family but it was nice to see the other couples at dinner. I liked having other people to talk to so it wasn’t just Dh and I the entire trip. I like meeting new people. Is it similar with other cruise lines?

That's generally called "traditional dining" where you sit with an assigned group each night. Some still do it like Disney with only a traditional option and others give you a choice for traditional or anytime dining. With an anytime type option it works like on land where you show up and just wait to be seated. At that point you'd have choice to wait for your own table or elect to share a table with other groups. So if you wanted to sit with others it's possible on any cruise line that I know.

Norwegian does all Freestyle dining so no set time or groups. On our last cruise we did a shared table one night, and the other nights we got our own.

 

[Haley R]

Welcome home! I'm so happy that you enjoyed the cruise, and thank you for sharing your thoughts here. We've had more relaxing vacations on the ship than in the parks, for certain. And I love combining a cruise with visits to new and interesting destinations. I hope you find a Norway/Scotland one you like - honestly it's just such an amazing part of the world and worth a visit (or two).

I really really want to see Norway and Scotland. Being able to use chase points would be a huge plus because we’ll have all next year to stock up. My dad said he would like to go to Scotland. My mom gets motion sick so isn’t onboard with doing a cruise....yet lol.

 

[Haley R]

That's generally called "traditional dining" where you sit with an assigned group each night. Some still do it like Disney with only a traditional option and others give you a choice for traditional or anytime dining. With an anytime type option it works like on land where you show up and just wait to be seated. At that point you'd have choice to wait for your own table or elect to share a table with other groups. So if you wanted to sit with others it's possible on any cruise line that I know.

Norwegian does all Freestyle dining so no set time or groups. On our last cruise we did a shared table one night, and the other nights we got our own.

I think if my parents go with we wouldn’t do shared dining because that would be 5 of us plus more. If they don’t go with I’d consider doing shared. We’re gonna start looking at itineraries for next summer just to see what’s out there because our goal is to go the summer of 2021. I know Holland has been mentioned and someone I know said they liked princess

 

[LB002]

For those with the Harry & David offer on their AmEx, I received a Harry & David's catalogue in the mail today -- on the back cover is an offer for $20.00 off a purchase of $99.00 or more with a unique code (also on the back of the catalogue). I will definitely be using these offers -- too good to turn down!

I recycled that catalog.... grrrr. We love the pears!

I did stack the Soma amex promo with a 3 for $99 sale, free shipping for rewards members and a coupon code, so pat on the back for me there!

 

[apollodi]

Do you log on to the website on your iPad? I use safari on iPad and can see the Chase offers. Most of the time. Sometimes they just aren’t there, but if I log off and check back later, they are usually there.

I tried accessing through both safari and the Chase app on the iPad last night, no luck. The Chase app on the iPad didn't have any offers anywhere at all. I'm going to keep checking every few days and hope that it fixes itself.

 

[DisneyMandC]

Lol forget to mention my Staples everchanging VGC fraud policy. Last time I went they called a manager up to ring me up but never looked at card or ID. Today, DH is ringing up at the register next to me. Manager comes over and asks me if I’m buying the card with credit or debit. I said credit and she asked if the card had a chip. I said yes and she said “ok you’re good.” Behind me, the cashier is making DH show him his card and ID lol. Whatever.

 

[smmco]

I woke up this morning and there was a perfect AA Biz class saver flight from London. I needed something that left after 2pm since I'm coming off a cruise ship with a 2-hour Southhampton to LHR drive time. I have it on hold until Thursday. If my points don't come in I'll just buy them. I'm only short 20k points. It still comes out less than flying on BA and paying the fuel taxes. I'm semi optimistic my points will be transferred by then, but if I end buying them I'll just have more points for a later date. I'd rather buy points than pay some sort of tax to a non-US company.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Welcome to a handful of new DISchurners members! Sorry for the delay in getting you added this past week, I've been busy. I got caught up on DISchurners maintenance tonight though

 

[disfanforlife]

I recycled that catalog.... grrrr. We love the pears!

I did stack the Soma amex promo with a 3 for $99 sale, free shipping for rewards members and a coupon code, so pat on the back for me there!

I just saw on the site that there was a buy early promo of 20% off. Maybe it just came out.

 

[havaneselover]

I'm off topic (what else is new?) but does anyone have a ninja food air fry oven? I saw a commercial for it this morning and now I'm convinced I need it.

 

[Alexle2007]

I'm off topic (what else is new?) but does anyone have a ninja food air fry oven? I saw a commercial for it this morning and now I'm convinced I need it.

DH wants the Cuisinart air fry oven so I am stalking those.

 

[EACarlson]

Did some early black friday shopping at Best Buy yesterday. Bought a 4k Blu-Ray for half price. Sadly the rest of my black friday shopping will probably be socks and underwear for me and the kids, and a bluetooth headset.

 

[Alice Sr.]

So glad you like it. My entire family just LOVES the food over there. Enjoy it and have a great trip!

ETA - DH is in a Delta lounge at DTW and the food there looks ok, but not amazing like in the PHL lounge. Of course, it depends on what you like. He's just happy to have a lounge. Also flying peasant class today.

I would agree with that statement, the food is not amazing at the Delta lounges but the adult beverage choices have never let me down , and I have not had to deal with an over crowding issues Looking forward to checking out a Centurion lounge though. Kind of a side benefit to the lounge accesses; I used to have terrible flying anxiety to the point I requested an anti anxiety script from my GP for flights. I went through a hypnotist and found a meditation app that helped enough to not need to pop a pill with a glass of wine, but I was still on edge. I noticed yesterday I am truly not having those issues at all anymore. I think maybe, having the lounge access to chillax has helped calm me. That and not flying SW out of MCO anymore lol.

 

[gottalovepluto]

In June, I rented from Alamo with my CSR. I was told the name on the rental agreement had to match the name on the card & I had to show them the card and my DL. I was going to be an authorized driver anyway (since Costco allows a free one) so we changed the agreement from DH's name to mine. Not sure how URs would play into that, but if you have to make a claim for damages, and only DH's name is on the contract that could get messy.

This was the rental where I left it with valet, and the rental car got hit by another guest entering the parking area. That claim still hasn't been resolved, and that was 5 months ago. I've called at least 4 times for updates, and it's still in pending mode. I really hope you don't have to ever deal with something like this, and this is with the CSR and rental agreement in my name.

ETA: It's not Chase giving me the runaround on this, it's Alamo's Damage Recovery Unit.

A bit confused. Did you file a claim with Chase insurance or with Alamo?

 

[gottalovepluto]

Some of you may recall that when I used my $250.00 Aspire credit towards my upcoming WA Maldives trip, I had to call AmEx and have them post the credit manually.

I just received my Hilton AmEx Aspire November statement and it shows that my $250.00 resort credit hasn't been yet been used this year. So the wheels started turning about how I could use this credit. I could go to Orlando for a night and stay at the WA Orlando for a quick trip to Magic Kingdom to take in all the holiday decorations. The only weekend this would work would be December 13th because I know for sure dh will be here to stay with dd (it's his annual holiday party -- I don't care if I miss it -- I'm a bit over it after 24 years of them). Or I could fly to NYC for a night (I still have the Delta GCs from the same card that haven't been used) and stay at the Conrad NY and do some holiday shopping! I'd love to take dd but she'll be in the middle of writing mid-term exams, so it would have to be a solo trip.

I'm counting my upcoming points on this card. Dh is having all of his out of town employees stay at the Embassy Suites for 2 nights (for the annual holiday party). I have given them my HH number and Hilton has a 3X points event running until January! So I will be getting a nice stack of points in December (maybe around 50,000 or 60,000). I'm thinking of asking his COO if somehow they can pay the invoice for everyone on my Aspire and reimburse me by check, but dh is so picky about accountability / transparency I'm not sure he will go for the idea. It doesn't hurt to ask I suppose.

I really LOVE this card!

The resort credit is per cardmember year, not calendar year.

I would plan on that extra credit getting clawed back someday. Maybe not this year, maybe not next year. Heck, maybe they’ll claw it back after you close the card and really make a headache out if it for you (read Saks credits clawed back after cards closed for buying gift cards). One manual review of your account- can be triggered for anything really- and you’ll be caught. Amex has zero issues clawing misused credits back even after accounts are closed.

Basically if you wouldn’t spend this $250 at Hilton in the natural course of your account life I wouldn’t spend it.

 

[gottalovepluto]

I am also behind in keeping up with the posts here but I believe a few people were talking about the FAFSA. It is a huge pain especially if you are not planning to take any of the loans that they will offer but one thing that can be helpful is qualifying for work-study. Some campuses give preference to work-study students for some pretty cushy jobs--one of my kids got paid to sit at a desk in the library and another was an usher for the theater performances. For science students (which mine were not), the positions can be even better, like lab techs.

THIS!!!

If you didn’t have work study you could basically forget getting an on campus job at my University. And you only got the hours up to your work study max when you qualified.

 

[GlamMistress]

Someone talk to me about the Wells Fargo Propel card. My next card will be Chase because I'm under 5/24 but I'm looking at the Propel to use the awards for WDW tickets. Anyone ever done this redemption with the card? DH and I do not likes Wells Fargo (do not trust them and they ripped us off once actually) but the rewards seem so lucrative for no fee...

 

[gottalovepluto]

I just got one of those dreaded, Delta has changed your flight, emails, for our Hawaii trip in 293 days. I thought, great, what did they do now, make it not direct? Nope, they shortened the flight by 45 minutes LOL. Not sure how that's possible, but ok.

HAHAHA! Fingers crossed that’s your only change!

It always surprises me how much faster commercial flights can go vs what they actually do due to fuel consumption. I was picking up my parents from a 1 hour 40 min flight once and they left on time but came in 40 mins early due to a medical emergency aboard (person got the help they needed). It boggles my mind the math that goes into maximizing airline profits in the how long to make a flight calculations.

 

[EACarlson]

HAHAHA! Fingers crossed that’s your only change!

It always surprises me how much faster commercial flights can go vs what they actually do due to fuel consumption. I was picking up my parents from a 1 hour 40 min flight once and they left on time but came in 40 mins early due to a medical emergency aboard (person got the help they needed). It boggles my mind the math that goes into maximizing airline profits in the how long to make a flight calculations.

They've padded the schedules so badly. When I was flying MSP-MDW twice a year in the '80's it was a 45 minute flight and only 90 minutes from leaving my house in Minneapolis to landing at Midway. Now they say it's a 110 minute flight, you need to be at the airport two hours early. It's really not all that much faster to fly than drive for a lot of places.