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

[Haley R]

Don't you mean non stop? (as @Haley R used for the correction above, we'll just use him for it )

Well gee, you make one mistake...

 

[BamaBoy]

We have had horrible experiences this year with youth hockey families from Birmingham. I mean they are downright nasty. I guess losing brings out the worst in people.

I would wager that 90% of hockey families in Birmingham, Alabama are not from this state. Hockey is not a thing at all with 99% of native Alabamians. Go tailgate at a high school football game in a small town here and you will have a totally different experience.

 

[Haley R]

I didn’t feel the least bit unsafe in Mexico either but oh man, there have been a ton of news stories out since showing how unsafe it is. So now I’m terrified to go back. Not cause of anything that happened to us!

I have no desire to go back lol. My parents took me both times and I haven’t been since. I’m not really a sit on the beach type of person. I like to be moving and seeing new things

 

[BamaBoy]

Okay I guess I’ll consider Alabama lol. I was against it because I’m in that crowd that’s heard not great things about the state but I think I need to give it a chance. PLUS, it’s what Dh would want to do most: space related programming. That’s his absolute dream job. I’ll write down the areas you mentioned. I will say that my parents hope to move to gulf shores sometime and that would be so nice to be that close.

I was born in mobile

Are there neighborhoods in that area with pools? That’s kind of a big deal to me

Every neighborhood in this state has pools it seems. Heck even I have a pool!

 

[wendow]

I have no desire to go back lol. My parents took me both times and I haven’t been since. I’m not really a sit on the beach type of person. I like to be moving and seeing new things

I’m not interested in going back to Mexico either. Appears to be a cesspool of crime now. I can sit on a beach and I love water sports but I’m just not interested in getting shot or beheaded. So I’ll go somewhere else. Plenty of other places in the world

 

[Haley R]

Every neighborhood in this state has pools it seems. Heck even I have a pool!

Well that’s reassuring lol. My SIL looked up Huntsville and it says it has 105% more crime than the national average and is only 3% safer than other us cities. That’s scary

 

[Haley R]

I’m not interested in going back to Mexico either. Appears to be a cesspool of crime now. I can sit on a beach and I love water sports but I’m just not interested in getting shot or beheaded. So I’ll go somewhere else. Plenty of other places in the world

Yes there are! I have lots of places I still want to visit (many of them in the states)

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

I’m not interested in going back to Mexico either. Appears to be a cesspool of crime now. I can sit on a beach and I love water sports but I’m just not interested in getting shot or beheaded. So I’ll go somewhere else. Plenty of other places in the world

This is generally my attitude towards traveling anywhere besides Florida (well besides the shot or beheaded part), I'm just not interested in going anywhere else. I love Disney...I love the beaches in Captiva...So I just go to both of them each year. And I love it...and it makes me happy... (and I know it also makes me kind of boring in comparison to what some people do on the thread - but I’m cool with that)

 

[CalifornianOrangeBird]

I know some of the cc have a $95 AF. My question is do they charge you right away when you get approved for the cc? My dh got approved for the CIP. Will the AF be on his first statemen?

I was recently approved for the CIP, and my first statement just posted. The AF is not on my first statement.

 

[smallsy]

They used to run a great direct flight down to MCO daily several years ago. That's actually what DH and I fly for our honeymoon. They're bringing back direct MCO flights this August, but they're only available on Saturdays. It actually works perfectly for our September WDW trip, but otherwise Jetblue is still our best flight/points option.

Same. We live about halfway between Charlotte and Atlanta and about 8 years ago when SW first announced flights out of our smaller regional airport they were offering $39 each way direct to MCO. It was amazing! Then they cancelled that option and it’s consistently been triple the price with a stop in ATL. We prefer to just drive to Charlotte and have a direct flight. And I definitely prefer JetBlue.

 

[palhockeymomof2]

I know some of the cc have a $95 AF. My question is do they charge you right away when you get approved for the cc? My dh got approved for the CIP. Will the AF be on his first statemen?

Went back and looked at my CIP....it was opened 5/15/18...$95 annual fee posted 6/1/18...and was on the first statement...

 

[GlamMistress]

Can I just say how pumped I am about the smoking band and new stroller restrictions at WDW/Land? #YES

 

[chattadisser]

I guess what I would do would depend on what other Amex cards I have. You can only have 5 Amex credit cards at once. Charge cards are unlimited. This is across the board business/personal. If they are credit cards only 5. So if you have only one or 2 other credit cards I would just product change and keep Amex happy. (And throw some dining charges on your Blue every once in a while to make them even happier). If you are getting close to 5 credit cards I might just bite the bullet and try cancelling.

I am in a similar situation with both myself and DH. He only has 3 credit cards; so I am going to product change his personal Delta Plat to the Blue (it is also his oldest Amex so I don’t want to cancel). For myself, once I get the BBP pretty soon I will be at my 5 credit card limit. At that point there are still other cards I might want (hello Hilton!) and I will have to cancel one and take my chances with the pop up.

Hope that helps!

Thank you. I probably will just change it to the Delta Blue as I currently only have 3 AmEx's and I want to keep them happy as I might want a Biz card or two in the future. Just trying to keep as many options open as possible...

 

[WVMomof3]

I know some of the cc have a $95 AF. My question is do they charge you right away when you get approved for the cc? My dh got approved for the CIP. Will the AF be on his first statemen?

In my experience, the AF is charged on the 1st of the month following when you opened the card. So if you applied in March, AF due on April 1. So it just depends on your billing cycle if that would be first statement or second statement.

 

[DisneyMandC]

Honestly probably one of the most beautiful beaches I’ve been to was in Negril, Jamaica.

I looked up some pictures and it's pretty... but I go and sit on the beach for one day each year when a work conference takes me to the oceanfront, and that's enough to satisfy all of my beachgoing needs for the next 365 days lol.

Thats what happens when I try to look at Nashville-Hawaii flights.

Me too. Nothing shows up from RIC.

We've been to Jamaica twice on DCL and it it super sketchy. They repeatedly tell you not to go outside the secure port area unless you are on an official excursion. I'm not normally one to pay for DCL excursions, but there I definitely do. I have read some really awful stories in the news about Jamaica too. It is unfortunate, because it is such a beautiful country with the beaches and mountains. We did a date day excursion once and left the kids on the ship. We did bobsleds, ziplining, and chair lift. It was a great day! I wouldn't go back and do a resort though after the stories I've seen in the news. But then again, I won't go to Mexico either, so take what I say with a grain of salt.

I also have no interest in Mexico. Really, anywhere in the Caribbean or Central America is out for me. Just nothing really appeals to me.

Now, South America? Sign me up!! I've been dying to go to Patagonia since I saw it on tv several years ago (@afan, Top Gear).

Don't you mean non stop? (as @Haley R used for the correction above, we'll just use him for it )

Ha!! I already forgot what you guys taught me about that... nonstop means you have a connection but don't change planes, direct means no connection?

 

[hsmamato2]

Well I just saw both swan and dolphin on aa redeem points site....also saw some nice deals at Universal hotels.... I think I'm gonna need more AA points soon! I also saw a good deal on car rentals which I might use too.....

 

[LuckyMamaInDE]

Ha!! I already forgot what you guys taught me about that... nonstop means you have a connection but don't change planes, direct means no connection?

Nonstop means you don't stop at all; direct means you stop but stay on the same plane

 

[DisneyMandC]

Nonstop means you don't stop at all; direct means you stop but stay on the same plane

I guess I could've used some context clues to figure that out...

 

[amalone1013]

I'm so torn about getting a Platinum. I can pull the 75k offer, but MSR will be a stretch since I just took the Lux upgrade. I wish DH could pay for more of his travel.

Well I just saw both swan and dolphin on aa redeem points site....also saw some nice deals at Universal hotels.... I think I'm gonna need more AA points soon! I also saw a good deal on car rentals which I might use too.....

You've convinced me lol.

 

[kidsfirsttrip]

oh even better. I have beaucoup Hilton points and DH has status. sold.

eta: which tower do you suggest?

We stayed in the regular hotel part. The towers were being renovated when we were there. They all looked nice and the resort is pretty small so I think any would be fine. We loved the Hilton - the beach is great and we loved the location. We are beach people, we didn’t even dip our toes in the pool. However if you are going with the kids you might want to consider the Hyatt instead. There pool is larger and has water slides and such. It’s 2 hotels down from the Hilton. All walkable and safe. My favorite beach bar ever is right across from the Hilton its called the Bugaloe