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

[WVMomof3]

Went to Busch Gardens Tampa on Christmas. I was hoping that tourists would be at Disney and locals would be with family, and we'd have the park to ourselves. That didn't work out, it was pretty crowded. But we had fun, they do a good job with christmas decorations.

2020 plans so far:
Feb cruise paid with cash, flights with SW RR
July trip to CA - SF to LA area and back, including DL. Flights on SW RR, hotels all with points.
Nov WDW with AA points for hotel. Flights probably with SW RR or might have to transfer some URs.
Plus there will be a lot of long weekend trips planned in between to various places.

Are you local or visiting the area? We will be there next week. Let me know if you have any tips. I was thinking New Years Day may be our best day to do Busch Gardens. I figured a good amount of people will be hung over and not going out and another good portion will be at the bowl game. Thoughts?

 

[gottalovepluto]

Flights and hotels are cancelled. I’m not really sure what we’re going to do. That was a lot of cards and annual fees for that trip. I’m feeling a little foolish for all of it.
Therees a DCL Cruise Id like to do, but $$$$$.. I’ll have to cancel WDW if we do that.

Don’t feel foolish. These things happen and there is no way for you to predict them. I see they’ve got a nice alternative offer with that 25% credit that might help make up for the cancellation fees, anything look appealing there?

 

[Albort]

Time to stop swiping and start tapping <g>. I get to tap at the nearby grocery stores and usually surprise a cashier who doesn't know what it is yet.

haha, i tap whenever i can and cashiers always look at me like no, ur suppose to insert it... what the heck are u doing? lol

 

[spacerangerqueen]

Time to stop swiping and start tapping <g>. I get to tap at the nearby grocery stores and usually surprise a cashier who doesn't know what it is yet.

My chip wasn't working the other day at Sephora and the cashier looked at my card and said "just tap it" I'd never done that before, it was fun!

 

[gottalovepluto]

A wonderfully disturbing article about business class passengers being targeted after landing at their destinations. They get passenger manifests and other info from co-horts at the airlines to determine targets. In this case it was in Buenos Aires and the victim was murdered as he entered his hotel from the airport. The upside is this appears very rare as the story is called “bizarre” but still I believe in being an aware traveler and the idea I would be followed from the airport to be burgled/robbed/murdered because I had flown J/F had not occurred to me. It’s not going to stop me but I will file it in the back of my head. https://www.flyertalk.com/articles/...riminals-target-business-class-travelers.html

eta: in this case the victim tried to fight when the gang came to rob him. very bad idea obviously.

 

[Oscar Madison]

I'm getting ready to apply for the 2nd credit card for my Southwest Companion Pass. I applied for the Performance Business when it had the 80,000 point offer. I was thinking of using the suggestion of applying for another business card, but when I look at my history, I'm kind of nervous about another business card. I have gotten 3 business cards this year:

CIP 1/10, 5/28 and the SW business on 10/10

I'm afraid I'm pushing my luck with another business card. With personal cards, I'm just 1/24 with the Arrival Plus card on 6/6/19.

When I look at the three available SW personal cards, one question I have it what can you use the $75 SW credit on if I would go with the Priority card? If it is on anything useful, that seems like a good option, but I really don't spend much actual cash with southwest since all flights are purchased with points and they have free checked bags. Can it be used for gift cards (that could possibly be sold)? Even then, seems like it would be much less hassle to just go with one of the lower tiered cards.

Just wondered what others are doing that are going the 1 business / 1 personal card route?

Thanks!

I am also working for the SW CP. I went for the 4th business card for the year. Did the 2nd SW Biz card 60 days after the 80k Performance Biz. I always wait for 90 days between apps but made the exception this time.

 

[3 DD love princesses]

Hope everyone had a merry Christmas!

 

[bernina]

Belated Merry Christmas! Joyous Kwanza and Happy Boxing Day.

DD is loving her Nintendo Switch (me too!). Luigis Mansion 3 is so much fun.

2020 Plans

Jan: Short Orlando trip, 3 nights at Hyatt Grand Cypress on free night awards and points. 1 night club level at Portofino and 2 day Universal tickets cash. Flights are cash (ahhh!) on Spirit.

Mar/Apr Spring Break: 7 nights Disney Hilton Head using DVC points for 6 nights and a room I snagged on Expedia for Friday night since it's so much on points. Flights booked on Delta using CSR 1.5x redemption.

July: Mediterrranean cruise on RCCL Allure out of Barcelona. 2 nights in Barcelona prior to cruise, then flying up to London to meet with friends and drive up to Scotland. Hotels and activities still TBD.

Oct: potential 5 night Halloween on high seas DCL out of NYC. Same friends from England we're meeting in July are doing this cruise. It goes to Canada and is an itinerary I've always wanted to do.

Nov: 2-3 nights for run (walk!) Disney event. Right now I have 2 nights in a 1 bedroom at Boulder Ridge. Would love to switch to Epcot area resort but doubt there will be anything open. I may add on a third night at MCO Hyatt. Flights TBD.

 

[needsomesun]

Are you local or visiting the area? We will be there next week. Let me know if you have any tips. I was thinking New Years Day may be our best day to do Busch Gardens. I figured a good amount of people will be hung over and not going out and another good portion will be at the bowl game. Thoughts?

Not local, we only go to Busch Gardens every few years. So I'm no help with tips, sorry! I'm guessing it'll be crowded due to the holiday though, like christmas was. My parents have a retirement house in central FL, but are not quite ready to live there full time. So we come down a lot for a free place to stay. And the weather has been fabulous this week, going to be really hard going back to new england.

 

[smmco]

Don’t feel foolish. These things happen and there is no way for you to predict them. I see they’ve got a nice alternative offer with that 25% credit that might help make up for the cancellation fees, anything look appealing there?

Well, on a positive note the card I used for the deposit is still active. I had to dig it out of the sock drawer but it's alive. Note to self when booking a cruise 18 months out make sure you don't cancel that card. I will use the 25% deposit. I'm not sure what on what yet. The Mardi gras will homeport in Orlando. I'll most likely book something in 2021.
I haven't had to pay any cancellation fees. My non- refundable deposit on Carnival will be refunded. AA waived the points redeposit. I guess they still have a heart.
Hotels were booked with points nothing lost there.

I rebooked a Baltic on DCL. I'm gagging on the price difference. It will just be me and my youngest son now. The dates don't work out for my DH or my oldest son that's taking Summer college classes. WDW will be postponed until the Fall. I found an AA saver business rate to LHR that works. Nothing on return yet.
I thought about waiting until next year 2021, but I have the money and the time now so I'll just do it. You never know what can come up over the next year or so.

 

[LB002]

Finally caught up with this thread! Hooray!

We got home last night for a week with family and my Grandma's funeral. Just unwinding and unpacking. Finally was able to celebrate Hannukah properly with the kids. We had been go-go-go when we were away and it felt like an afterthought.

I love reading everyone's 2020 travel schedules! We have some great trips planned ourselves. We had some home renovations that sucked up travel budget in 2018-2019 (but generated lots of points for 2020 travel!), so I'm excited!

Feb - Hawaii - UR points for flights and car rental, Hilton points for 5 nights, and 4 nights DVC at Aulani. Possibly UR for some activities?

Mar - Disney weekend - SW points for flights, DVC stay at Poly, free 1-day employee tickets. We did spend some $$$ to get opening night Cirque Du Soleil tickets!!! I hope we can keep this a secret and surprise the kids!!!

Apr - 1 night in NYC at The Conrad with Hilton Aspire free night to take the kids to see the Statue of Liberty, they've been asking for a year.

Jun - probably a weekend to hometown to see family, but nothing booked yet. My family are last-minute people

Aug - 2 weeks to Alaska and WA State. Cruise is cash , but flights are SW points and I plan on UR for hotels, car rental and possibly activities. We also will have 2 Hilton free nights and a Marriott night to use.

Nov - Disney - SW points for flights, DVC room, tickets from Delta vacations promo.

Dec - Nothing booked yet, but looking at 3-4 nights at a ski resort near my hometown paired with 2 nights visiting family for Christmas. Hopefully can use UR for the skiing.

We really wanted to do a Europe trip in 2020, but other trips fell into place. Hopefully 2021!!!

I feel so blessed (and not in a cliche way!) to be able to take my kids on all these trips! I definitely did not grow up this way, and I am excited to show them some of the world! A sincere thanks to all of you on this board for the advice and guidance that helped to make these trips happen!

 

[DisneyMandC]

Selected JetBlue as our airline on DH’s Gold card and bought his ticket! Hopefully it will credit around the 1st/2nd and then I’ll go ahead and get mine too.

By the way, I love how JB has started the “basic” fare which is the same price I’ve always paid for a flight, and now the regular Blue level I’ve always bought before is $20 more really slick, guys. Fortunately you still get a free carryon with the basic level and the only thing you don’t get is to choose your seats, which DH and I don’t care about on a 2 hour nonstop flight.

 

[smmco]

I popped on over to cruise critic. I was expecting a lot of drama over this similar to Hurricane cancellations, but there's really not a lot of posts on it. Maybe I'm not the only one that didn't get an email or it's so far out people are taking it in stride. It could be those that haven't bought flights yet are relieved they don't have too.

 

[disfanforlife]

Finally caught up with this thread! Hooray!

We got home last night for a week with family and my Grandma's funeral. Just unwinding and unpacking. Finally was able to celebrate Hannukah properly with the kids. We had been go-go-go when we were away and it felt like an afterthought.

I love reading everyone's 2020 travel schedules! We have some great trips planned ourselves. We had some home renovations that sucked up travel budget in 2018-2019 (but generated lots of points for 2020 travel!), so I'm excited!

Feb - Hawaii - UR points for flights and car rental, Hilton points for 5 nights, and 4 nights DVC at Aulani. Possibly UR for some activities?

Mar - Disney weekend - SW points for flights, DVC stay at Poly, free 1-day employee tickets. We did spend some $$$ to get opening night Cirque Du Soleil tickets!!!

Apr - 1 night in NYC at The Conrad with Hilton Aspire free night to take the kids to see the Statue of Liberty

Jun - probably a weekend to hometown to see family, but nothing booked yet.

Aug - 2 weeks to Alaska and WA State. Cruise is cash , but flights are SW points and I plan on UR for hotels, car rental and possibly activities. We also will have 2 Hilton free nights and a Marriott night to use.

Nov - Disney - planning SW flights, DVC room, tickets from Delta vacations promo.

Dec - Nothing booked yet, but looking at 3-4 nights at a ski resort near my hometown paired with 2 nights visiting family for Christmas

I was just looking at Cirque, we are going earlier in March so won’t get to see it until fall. That’s great you got opening night tickets!!!

 

[ski_mom]

2020 Plans

Surely you all know me by now and know that I have no idea.

We will be ringing in the new year in Tampa. We leave Saturday so I am pretty confidant about this, I think. lol I was not confidant this morning, our dog sitter cancelled but I think we have someone lined up now.

End of January - currently have reservations for DH and I at Hyatt Ziva Cancun. But i keep saying I am going to cancel this. Looking at maybe Miami or Keys instead. Or perhaps nothing at all. lol

February - I really thought I was joking about visiting U of Michigan in the winter, but joke is on me, they only gave him dates in Feb or March. We will be doing DS's visit on President's day weekend. Ann Arbor in February. Sounds fun. lol

May - have a college graduation and a high school graduation that month. Both local so not going anywhere.

June - Would love to do an oversees family trip to celebrate DD college graduation. Have zero idea if this will actually happen as the kids do not yet know their summer plans.

August - Take 2 kids to college and 1 to the airport. Then will cry because all of my kids left me. Not ready to share yet what oldest DD is doing after college, but I will let y'all know soon.

September - Really want to do Hawaii to cheer myself up, we will see if I can make this happen.

November - possible RunDisney at WDW. Have you noticed a pattern of me not being able to commit. haha

You sound a lot like me. I have a hard time committing now that my kids are getting older. I still try to work around their plans, but it gets harder each year. Last year was the first time our summer vacation didn't include all 3 kids . This year our middle DD graduates from college and DS graduates from High School so will be leaving this coming fall. I'm happy and sad at the same time.

I try to keep telling myself that it will allow more flexible vacations, but there are still so many things I want to do with them as a family.

I am also working for the SW CP. I went for the 4th business card for the year. Did the 2nd SW Biz card 60 days after the 80k Performance Biz. I always wait for 90 days between apps but made the exception this time.

So were you approved? I guess I may as well go for it. The worst they can do it tell me no, right??

 

[LB002]

I popped on over to cruise critic. I was expecting a lot of drama over this similar to Hurricane cancellations, but there's really not a lot of posts on it. Maybe I'm not the only one that didn't get an email or it's so far out people are taking it in stride. It could be those that haven't bought flights yet are relieved they don't have too.

Such a crazy situation! And so disappointing. I'm glad you found out before you booked anything non-refundable.

 

[LB002]

I was just looking at Cirque, we are going earlier in March so won’t get to see it until fall. That’s great you got opening night tickets!!!

My DH was the one who saw the show was opening while we are booked to be there. I balked at the cost, but he was so excited and the kids loved the one Cirque show they've seen, so I agreed. I'm the more frugal one in my house, but now that it's booked I'm REALLY excited!

 

[Psychodisney]

2020 plans
New Year in Orlando for the Citrus bowl. GO BLUE! Flights on SW and staying at Bonnet creek on UR points.
Late January: Naples to close on our new house! Flights on AA ...paid for one way($49) and used UR points fo rate return.
Feb: Ann Arbor for Mom’s weekend . Flights on UR points, 2 nights on UR points.
March: 7 days in Aruba! All flights and hotels on points.
March: Back to Ann Arbor for Honors Convocation on UR points, Marriott anniversary night.
April: Naples on SW companion pass for a weekend
May: Memorial Day weekend in Naples SW companion pass
July: 4th of July in Naples SW companion pass
Nothing further planned yet....but I’m sure you notice a trend. Lots of Naples and Ann Arbor. DD will either be in Ann Arbor or home in Chicago for the summer depending on internship.

 

[Haley R]

Dh and I just got back from seeing the new Star Wars movie with my dad. It was....okay? Idk how I feel exactly. I’m not a huge Star Wars fan anyway but watch all of them. Everything was just too convenient and felt like things happened just to keep the story going.

 

[smmco]

On another positive note since this cruise ends in Copenhagen I can book Business class on BA. Even with BA's fuel charges it's a couple hundred less than my original flight on AA out of LHR. This is because the layover in LHR is less than 24 hours and I don't have to pay the British depart taxes. I'm seriously working at making lemonade out lemons. I appreciate all the sad faces and empathy I've gotten on this thread, but I'm thinking it's all going to be OK.

Nothing ever goes bad on a Disney cruise. Thankfully you have to pay for it 4 months out and by the time you get on the ship you've forgotten about how much you paid.