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

[Haley R]

Ok that was an epic autocorrect/iPad error and was supposed to say something like we’ll all be 400 lbs soon. But here’s the cake View attachment 392020

Yum!!

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Amazing!!! Your ds made that?!?

He did about 90%. I helped divide the batter evenly into 6 portions (with a scale) and pour it into pans. Confession: I broke one of his layers moving it and had to re-bake it the next morning before assembly.
He and his cousin made this for grandma’s bday (took a little more supervision to get 2 ten year olds to cooperate)

 

[WVMomof3]

Germany has high departure taxes, second only to the U.K. It's only charged on departure, which is why you only see it higher on the return flight. Here's a good comparison article (doesn't show Belgium though).

https://travelupdate.boardingarea.com/a-comprehensive-guide-to-flight-taxes-fees-in-europe/

But, yeah, if you can find $400 roundtrip, I wouldn't use 60k points either. I was going to use my AA miles last summer, but the low cost carriers were so cheap it didn't make any sense. This summer, I really wanted to fly out of Aberdeen instead of Edinburgh (basically BA was the only choice with one connection), so sucked it up and paid the fees.

Wow, that is really helpful. Thank you. But I’m still confused. Is this just if your original flight departs from there and not connect? Because as I said earlier my DDs connecting at London Heathrow flight only had $44 in fees. Departed Dulles to London to Johannesburg to Capetown.

Briefly looked at cash flights and I don’t know where my friend found such cheap flights. I’m not seeing anything that cheap.

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

Thank you! I've been reading up today. I do think we'd enjoy Salkantay more. The lodges look great - although the camping is more in line with our budget. Will have to give it some thought. Nice Marriotts in both Cusco and the Sacred Valley.

We stayed at the Marriott in Cusco and absolutely loved it. Maybe my favorite Marriott ever.

 

[trstno1]

deleted

 

[calypso726]

Disclaimer that I’ve never played with Hilton upgrade offers, but I do pick up the chatter on Reddit.

I think the conventional wisdom on r/churning is that it takes at least a year after opening a new card to get offers to upgrade it, and you won’t get an offer to upgrade to the Aspire if you already have the Aspire, so @calypso726 may need to downgrade her Aspire to something else in about a year if she’s hoping for an upgrade offer on the no fee card, then once that’s upgraded she can upgrade her original Aspire back if she wants to have 2 Aspires.

See: https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/comments/b62lzq/question_thread_march_27_2019/ejhwd5m

And check out this guy who takes the Hilton upgrade offers for the points, then downgrades his card back to the no fee card after a few months and waits for another upgrade offer to come along like clockwork:

https://www.removeddit.com/r/churning/comments/b599t0/discussion_thread_march_25_2019/ejccp6d/

For general information: https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/comments/b1d282/question_thread_march_15_2019/eimlt1r/

https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/comments/azeaxx/question_thread_march_10_2019/ei81ls4/

https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/comments/ayb0qe/question_thread_march_07_2019/ei1npfv/

I know having a second Aspire will fill up all my Amex credit cards spots (5) and I'd be pretty much done with them unless I am willing to cancel one of the SPG/Bonvoy cards and at this point, I am not. So, I wanted to get the no fee Hilton which I've never had. That would put me in position to get an upgrade bonus to the Ascend which I have had and wouldn't be eligible for a SUB. Once those two things have happened, I am hoping I'd get an upgrade offer to a second Aspire. I will not be adding the Hilton no fee card to my current Amex log in. If I don't get an upgrade offer to the Aspire by the time I need to have a second Aspire in place, I am good with straight out applying for it without a SUB. I just didn't want to do that without trying to get some more Hilton points via the no fee card SUB and an upgrade offer.

 

[amcc]

Confusing myself even more. Looks like on the way there United DC - Munich nonstop fees are $5.60. On the way back fees are $97.83 nonstop and higher with stops. I admit I really don't understand how the same flight using same airports has different fees. Hmmm, guess I need to really investigate further. I am pretty open to where we fly into, thinking Germany/Belgium itinerary. My friend did a similar trip last week and flew into and out of Frankfurt. Her tickets were less than $400 roundtrip and she bought them about a month in advance, so maybe I need to look at cash prices on the UR portal too. Seems wasteful to use 60,000 points if I would only save about $300.

I’m flexible where we go this summer so I use google flights to find the cheap flights and then search for them on the UR portal. I’ve found that the UR portal comes up with most of the flights I look at. I’m seeing Munich flights for this summer in the less than $700 range (~45k UR with a CSR) and Spain has been consistently well under $600, both from Miami. I saw London cheap last week but need to look further into the fees (fees x 6 can really add up).

 

[kmc8826]

Quarter 1: I got the CIC and the Barclaycard Aviator Biz. P2 got the Hyatt and BBP. He is almost done with the BBP so we will see if the bonus posts.

We really need to not spend so much so I have made a concentrated effort to slow down. He made the initial spend on the Hyatt for the 40,000 points but honestly it doesn’t seem worth it to put the other $3000 on it.

Next up is the CIP for P2 (about 30 days since cancelled his last) and a BBP for me. Tempted to get Biz Green for DH too.

 

[wanderlust7]

Wow, that is really helpful. Thank you. But I’m still confused. Is this just if your original flight departs from there and not connect? Because as I said earlier my DDs connecting at London Heathrow flight only had $44 in fees. Departed Dulles to London to Johannesburg to Capetown.

Briefly looked at cash flights and I don’t know where my friend found such cheap flights. I’m not seeing anything that cheap.

Yes, the taxes are charged based on your departure airport. Your DD's flight had the low taxes probably because it only connected through London AND neither origin nor destination were in the U.K. It's pretty complicated and confusing - like most tax code, lol!

Your friend may have caught a sale. Think March is a slower time? Summer is usually more expensive. I'm an obsessive planner, so I would not be okay with getting a flight 1 month out!

 

[afan]

I logged into amex and I've been pre approved to upgrade my delta biz. I don't want to and it doesn't give me any info on it, but is this a sign they are happy with me and the spend I've been putting on it? It's my only amex.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

I logged into amex and I've been pre approved to upgrade my delta biz. I don't want to and it doesn't give me any info on it, but is this a sign they are happy with me and the spend I've been putting on it? It's my only amex.

I'm not sure there's a correlation there. My wife was targeted for an upgrade from BCE to BCP and received the upgrade bonus last year despite seeing the ineligible popup shortly before and for months after on the Schwab Plat.

That said, if it's your only AMEX and you've kept it open and are paying the AF and putting some spend on it, you're probably in good shape.

 

[havaneselover]

In the Car Rental world a Intermediate Car is a Compact

Example a Nissan Sentra is a Intermediate Car via Alamo

Toyota Corolla is a Compact in the real world but a Intermediate via a Car Rental

Intermediate is my go-to size car . if I were to check what size it would be

best to look on the website . For our week plus trips I usually see a upgrade for a

Dollar a day for the next class size car after booking - sometimes prior to the click

on submit . This is based on past Rentals via Alamo - Enterprise - Budget

((((((((((((((((((((()))))))))))))))))))))))))

um as pointed out below a Ford Fiesta is more of a Sub Compact Car

Yep—I did. Fiesta is a compact. Focus is an intermediate. So I was downgraded and not told.

 

[hsmamato2]

Haha I have to record everything. I usually am like you and read 2-3 books a week. A lot of them are so similar so I have to record.

As far as Lexile scores, I’m a teacher so I do know what they are. I think kids should get to choose something that interests them but they need to be able to read it without struggling the entire time. The school I sub at uses AR and it tells them what level they should read. A lot of teachers will let kids read above their level but not below. Some teachers use a five finger rule: they choose a random page in a book, if the kid can read it without getting 5 or more mess ups they can read the book. Otherwise it’s too hard for them.

interesting....

 

[hsmamato2]

Disclaimer that I’ve never played with Hilton upgrade offers, but I do pick up the chatter on Reddit.

I think the conventional wisdom on r/churning is that it takes at least a year after opening a new card to get offers to upgrade it, and you won’t get an offer to upgrade to the Aspire if you already have the Aspire, so @calypso726 may need to downgrade her Aspire to something else in about a year if she’s hoping for an upgrade offer on the no fee card, then once that’s upgraded she can upgrade her original Aspire back if she wants to have 2 Aspires.

See: https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/comments/b62lzq/question_thread_march_27_2019/ejhwd5m

And check out this guy who takes the Hilton upgrade offers for the points, then downgrades his card back to the no fee card after a few months and waits for another upgrade offer to come along like clockwork:

https://www.removeddit.com/r/churning/comments/b599t0/discussion_thread_march_25_2019/ejccp6d/

For general information: https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/comments/b1d282/question_thread_march_15_2019/eimlt1r/

https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/comments/azeaxx/question_thread_march_10_2019/ei81ls4/

https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/comments/ayb0qe/question_thread_march_07_2019/ei1npfv/

hmmmm we have 3 Hilton-with-fees cards.... I think I'll try downgrading them all to see if I get an upgrade back to ascend again....

 

[Killer Fish]

Excellent start to the week....referred my wife and applied for Chase Ink Business Preferred yesterday and approved this morning and meanwhile I will finish the MSR on mine today when Child care posts! (Love that our daycare takes Credit cards with no added fees and you can change as much as you want).

 

[palhockeymomof2]

Excellent start to the week....referred my wife and applied for Chase Ink Business Preferred yesterday and approved this morning and meanwhile I will finish the MSR on mine today when Child care posts! (Love that our daycare takes Credit cards with no added fees and you can change as much as you want).

Congrats

 

[DisneyMandC]

Applied for CIP 2 for DH just now.... "We need more time to review." Cue the multiple phone calls to the status line...

ETA: Just changed to two weeks!!! Fingers crossed...

 

[speedyfishy]

I see an Amex offer this morning for $20 back for spending $100 at ebags.

 

[speedyfishy]

Also, I have another Amex offer for an extra MR for Best Buy purchases. I added it to my Blue Biz so along with the Swagbuck discounts Ill be getting 3x MR on my Disney gift cards.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

.