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

[PolyRob]

I have to say I was not impressed by Poly. I found it dark, the walk from our room was kinda long, and the bathroom layout was not good.

The paths from certain buildings can be a bit of a walk. I usually request Rarotonga. The rooms have some wear and tear and are in need of a full refurb. The bathrooms also suffer like CR from being original resorts. The enclosed sink can be hard when someone is using the bathroom, but the extra space in the actual room is nice.

With all of this said, I still adore the resort and a WDW trip would not be complete if I did not do some shopping and dining at Poly! I was trying to get a discounted room here for the MK split of my next stay, but I got GF CL cheaper so it was an obvious choice. I will have to get my time in between 'Ohana dinner and a Trader Sam's visit.

The updated DVC studios are beautiful and a lot brighter. Can't beat a double bath.

Those reds really make a big difference! I can't wait for updated rooms on the regular resort side!

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

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[kmc8826]

That one doesn’t make Disney math sense, card churning sense, or rational sense to me... but you do you!! Can you not just buy this mug?

It really does not make sense. Period. It is just that on a wild impulse (after reading something of how CBR was not good right now) I checked the AP rates and found Yacht Club for $363. I broached the idea to DH to stay there Saturday night. He was pretty much like whatever although did perk up at the walk into Epcot Saturday night portion of the plan. Although honestly I think he didn’t really hear me or process it all. What he did hear he was mostly just relieved it was about this trip in a couple weeks and not some other future trip.

Every so often, I'll just buy a mug to have something in the room with a cover on it for early morning walks. Haven't done dining plan in quite a while, but when I do, I do it on a one night DVC booking. But, I can see 'some' sense in this because by the time you spend $20ish for the mug, you might as well spend $40ish for the 2 meals and snacks assuming the regular dining plan. (Not absolutely sure what it actually costs now, but I know it hasn't gone down in price.) And, that's when I like to book a Boma or 'Ohana ADR.

The one night or maybe two benefit of credits is the only way we would do the dining plan again. I originally had a scheme of one night DVC and dining plan with Artist Point since such a good value but ended up ditching it to stay at the Marriott before DH’s Lux credit expired. I guess that’s why I keep going back to the having the dining plan instead of just buying a stupid mug if I want it! I’m glad you sort of get my weird fuzzy Disney rationalization math

Or spend the $40 to buy two mugs and not double book a night? Seems like you'd save more keeping it as is and then just buying the mugs. Have you asked the TA if they can switch the room to a different resort?

Oh no question I would save more. And apparently since it is the race weekend everything is booked. It will be fine I am sure. I didn’t double book last night because I was going to get out gift cards. Later today when I could finally look it was booked. $363 I can sort of justify. More than that not so much.

But yes @PolyRob maybe I will run the dining plan for the last 2 DVC nights. Use my planning energy in a more constructive direction...

 

[afan]

Kimpton is now on the list of places to try because ... rubber duckies.

Did some googling and it looks like it was (can't find recent info) an item in the mini bar at their SF properties. This would make sense because they started in SF and I got my hotel mgmt degree in SF so we heard about them in the late 90's early 00's. I think at that point they were free. I did also see that their pet goldfish you could have in your room are also gone. Kimpton is part of IHG now. They were still independent when we were learning about them and I always thought they'd be a good chain to stay with. From the brief look at their site it seems they've kept their kitchiness but have expanded out further and being part of IHG doesn't seem to have hurt. Better than it being Marriott.

 

[mmmears]

Van Ness Muni station on the way back to campus from the wharf. We were sitting on one of the big round benches. Needless to say what I saw to my right at eye level when a guy walked up with a cup that didn't hold it all, chaps and a vest on and nothing else. Well I'm sure he had shoes but I didn't notice those. Living in SF nothing really surprises me any more

Oh my. DH spent a few years working south of Market, and he has quite a few similarly disturbing stories to tell. They usually end with "Only in San Francisco."

Oh, in random disney rumor news, a little birdie told me that the chatter is that the dining plan is soon to be required. I can't see it really, but that is what the birdie was told by more important birdies.
I think that would be the end of my onsite stays for sure.

Wow. I hope the important birdie was wrong. Can't see us staying onsite if we are forced into a dining plan. We usually have some combo of CL snacks, a big sit down meal (without drinks or desserts, but maybe with a few apps to share, some entrees, and at most one desert to split, in other words we don't fall into the plan there either), more CL snacking and either snacks or a lighter dinner.

Dating myself, but the times we stayed at the Poly were pre-renovation and had the weird lamps that reminded me of the cursed idol in the Brady Bunch when they went to Hawaii. So disturbing...I prefer POFQ to nightmares and back luck

Love the Brady Bunch and that episode. We stayed at the poly post renovation so weren't worried about the curse from the idols.

 

[afan]

This week's movie was Mommy Dearest. All I can say is wow! And I don't understand why people like it. It made The Great Race from last week better and it was ridic. Though I have to say Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon together are fun.

 

[mmmears]

This week's movie was Mommy Dearest. All I can say is wow! And I don't understand why people like it. It made The Great Race from last week better and it was ridic. Though I have to say Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon together are fun.

Oh, that's a pretty disturbing movie... I remember seeing it years ago.

 

[afan]

Oh, that's a pretty disturbing movie... I remember seeing it years ago.

I'm torn which was more disturbing, Mommy Dearest or All About Eve. Probably the former because it's based off the daughter's book but the later was so much more creepy disturbing.

 

[DisVegas]

How do we go about joining the Dischurners reddit group? Thanks!

 

[PolyRob]

How do we go about joining the Dischurners reddit group? Thanks!

If you already have a Reddit handle, just pm, @Albort, @Lain, or @SouthFayetteFan with it and one of them will add you

 

[havaneselover]

I chickend out with my Costco rep... she seemed a bit overwhelmed or maybe not as seasoned with Disney, so I just went with the 5 GCs. I'll call next week with the last GC and the two CSRs to use their travel credits

You should be able to do the two CSR payments online. I did last time.

 

[palhockeymomof2]

Not sure if this has been mentioned and I missed it...
After using up our Disney GCs....had to put our Epcot flower and garden food booth purchases last week on a credit card since we stayed off site ....used my CSR.. and they coded 3x....
So used to staying on-site and putting everything on the magic bands....this did make DH more aware of how much he was spending while .....eating around the world

 

[Alexle2007]

Does anyone remember where the Disney tickets were hiding in the UR portal? I thought had seen them before under other experiences with the USO pricing but don’t see them there now.

 

[DisneyMandC]

Today in creepy horse show hotels I’ve stayed at:



What’s behind this dark, padlocked door at the end of this hotel hallway? The county jail? The psych ward? Hotel patrons that have complained? We’ll never know.

 

[EACarlson]

All,

I’ve spent the past week reading the original board. You all rock! I made it up to page 185 and wanted to move on over here to check out the recent news. Thank you for all of your stories and advice. Like many of you, I wish I’d read this before I recently upgraded and got some new cards. I got hooked into this hobby by staying at the Hotel Indigo in Anaheim and getting the IHG Select card years ago. I then got the CSR and paid for our wedding in Cancun with the card and used the points for our honeymoon in Europe. I now see that I didn’t necessarily make the best use of the points as I directly utilized the UR portal as opposed to travel partners. Anyways, here’s what I have and here’s some questions I have about the best new cards to utilize for my future travel:

2019:
Feb - Amex Gold
Feb - Freedom
Feb - Upgraded to Southwest Priority from Premier - no bonus - had the prior card for 8 years and have never canceled it and got the bonus again - that’s a learning experience

2018:
June - Amex Platinum

2017:
August - DiscoverIt
June - Freedom Unlimited

2016:
Feb - CSR
June - IHG Select

Smith’s is our local grocery store and next month they stop accepting Visa credit cards so that’s why I got the Amex Gold. I then plan on using the Freedom @ Costco during the rotating quarter. I alternate CSR and Amex Gold for restaurants. Amex Platinum and CSR are then both used for booking travel. Freedom Unlimited is for everything else.

I live in Vegas, if you can’t tell by my name so Southwest is the primary airline I fly. Here are some questions I have;

1) Now that I’ve missed out on the bonus for the personal Southwest premier card for this year does it make sense to go ahead and try for the Southwest business now so I can go for CP again in 2 years?

2) Or is there potentially more value in going for CIP as opposed to a Southwest business card? We’ve got a newborn so I don’t anticipate traveling to WDW for at least a year or two. Southwest and Frontier are the only airlines flying nonstop from Vegas to MCO that I’m aware of.

3) Hotel wise we’re all over the place but I utilize the IHG Select frequently. This fall we’re going on a Viking River Cruise. I’ve already got a room in Amsterdam taken care of via IHG but I haven’t done so in Basel. With the current offer on Marriott Bonvoy I’m debating going for that. Make sense? Although I’m not intrigued with the Radisson Rewards card based on @calypso726’s experience in Europe. Although I haven’t read enough to determine if the new Club Carlson card is a good deal. What do you think?

4) Domestic flying I have a bit of a condrum. I fly to Maine and Kentucky each 1-2x a year, and California at least 4x a year. Southwest goes to all destinations but I’m intrigued with springing for 1st class. I could fly to Cincinnati via Delta in 1st to get to Kentucky and occasionally to California via delta. With respect to Maine, Skyscanner says our best option is American Airlines or Southwest. It seems to me based on my various destinations, going for the CP with SW is the best bet. Do you recommend any alternative card for domestic travel or another card for international travel?

5) My wife is an AU on the Amex Gold, CSR and Freedom Unlimited. She also has her own Southwest card. I suppose I could have her cancel her card and order Southwest and the business card for her? The difficulty is that we made her an AU on three cards this year.

Thanks! I look forward to joining the discussion!

1. Why not get the SW business and get the CP for May-Dec of this year and all of 2020? Then in late 2020 you could have your wife get both cards You'd have to move fast before that Gold hits your report, by my count that would put you over 5/24.
2. CIP would be a worthwhile way to replenish UR if you opt to not try for the SW Biz.
3. Make sure you do your research on what the new Bonvoy program looks like and what has been changed. I'd be more apt to go with Hilton, since you're automatically gold since you have the AMEX Plat and 1:2 MR redemptions. I've had a couple of experiences as just a Silver that wowed me.
4. Delta is pretty well covered with the MR from the Gold and Plat. I get about 6,000-8,000 points per month on my Gold and it only cost me 17,000 MR each for a RT from MSP-MCO, not a bad redemption value.
5. I would wait her out this cycle and then put cards in her name for the next one while your report recovers a little bit.

I would double check the date on the CSR. That card wasn't released until Aug. of 2016.

 

[pinkxray]

Is the secure message still available for the Citi AA business card? I can’t seem to find it to sm about a match.

 

[Limes96]

My SW Biz SUB posted this morning! It’s exciting to see those points in the account!

 

[Chancery8]

A couple years ago I had a dozen rubber duckies on the dashboard of my Escape.

I was wondering where my duck was going to live after this trip. Dashboard it is!

Did your ducks survive? This made me think of this, lol

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

All,

I’ve spent the past week reading the original board. You all rock! I made it up to page 185 and wanted to move on over here to check out the recent news. Thank you for all of your stories and advice. Like many of you, I wish I’d read this before I recently upgraded and got some new cards. I got hooked into this hobby by staying at the Hotel Indigo in Anaheim and getting the IHG Select card years ago. I then got the CSR and paid for our wedding in Cancun with the card and used the points for our honeymoon in Europe. I now see that I didn’t necessarily make the best use of the points as I directly utilized the UR portal as opposed to travel partners. Anyways, here’s what I have and here’s some questions I have about the best new cards to utilize for my future travel:

2019:
Feb - Amex Gold
Feb - Freedom
Feb - Upgraded to Southwest Priority from Premier - no bonus - had the prior card for 8 years and have never canceled it and got the bonus again - that’s a learning experience

2018:
June - Amex Platinum

2017:
August - DiscoverIt
June - Freedom Unlimited

2016:
Feb - CSR
June - IHG Select

Smith’s is our local grocery store and next month they stop accepting Visa credit cards so that’s why I got the Amex Gold. I then plan on using the Freedom @ Costco during the rotating quarter. I alternate CSR and Amex Gold for restaurants. Amex Platinum and CSR are then both used for booking travel. Freedom Unlimited is for everything else.

I live in Vegas, if you can’t tell by my name so Southwest is the primary airline I fly. Here are some questions I have;

1) Now that I’ve missed out on the bonus for the personal Southwest premier card for this year does it make sense to go ahead and try for the Southwest business now so I can go for CP again in 2 years?

2) Or is there potentially more value in going for CIP as opposed to a Southwest business card? We’ve got a newborn so I don’t anticipate traveling to WDW for at least a year or two. Southwest and Frontier are the only airlines flying nonstop from Vegas to MCO that I’m aware of.

3) Hotel wise we’re all over the place but I utilize the IHG Select frequently. This fall we’re going on a Viking River Cruise. I’ve already got a room in Amsterdam taken care of via IHG but I haven’t done so in Basel. With the current offer on Marriott Bonvoy I’m debating going for that. Make sense? Although I’m not intrigued with the Radisson Rewards card based on @calypso726’s experience in Europe. Although I haven’t read enough to determine if the new Club Carlson card is a good deal. What do you think?

4) Domestic flying I have a bit of a condrum. I fly to Maine and Kentucky each 1-2x a year, and California at least 4x a year. Southwest goes to all destinations but I’m intrigued with springing for 1st class. I could fly to Cincinnati via Delta in 1st to get to Kentucky and occasionally to California via delta. With respect to Maine, Skyscanner says our best option is American Airlines or Southwest. It seems to me based on my various destinations, going for the CP with SW is the best bet. Do you recommend any alternative card for domestic travel or another card for international travel?

5) My wife is an AU on the Amex Gold, CSR and Freedom Unlimited. She also has her own Southwest card. I suppose I could have her cancel her card and order Southwest and the business card for her? The difficulty is that we made her an AU on three cards this year.

Thanks! I look forward to joining the discussion!

Welcome! I just sent you an invite to DISchurners. I see you expressed interest in joining, which is awesome!

I’ll provide some thoughts on your situation and questions a little later today when I have a chance to think through things. If you’ve been reading the original thread, unfortunately some of that info might be outdated now but that’s ok. We will set you up for success!

 

[happ]