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

[WVMomof3]

Yeah, no way dh would feel comfortable taking six weeks off with the new policy. I'm sure he won't want to take the number of days he is given under the old plan. I don't have a concrete on your age but guessing 40's. ???

Yes to the 40's. We both started working for this company while co-oping in college at 19 yrs old so DH is coming up on 28 years this year.

 

[Mopedmom1]

It's easy enough to get depending on your company or industry. We had PTO (pooled sick and Vaca) so by 3 years you had 20 days, by 7 25, but then you had to wait for a while for 30, maybe at 15 years? and you were pretty maxed out, I think you had to be director or above for more. So depending on when you were hired could easily have 25 days by age 30.

As for your DH, if what he had before was working, just keep at it to start. It's hard for them to complain if it's what they gave you before.

Given his age and time in his field I feel he should have more time off. The problem we are running into now is he has just taken two weeks, has another 8 days needed in September, and 5-8 days for October. Under the old policy that would have been over two fiscal years and would not have been a problem. Now, with a new immediate supervisor (as in one week) who has no knowledge of dh's work ethic, I feel he will be judged and be very uncomfortable requesting ANY time off.

 

[AmyAnne]

I'm looking into the Citi AA biz cards because I am going through MSR withdrawal . . . I'm still not sure it's a good idea because I have no definite use for the points (no packages and the cancellation policy are two big drawbacks), but I do have a question: On the reddit page, it says "You will see significantly lower prices if you login and have an active Citi AA card tied to your account." I've poked around both of the AA sites and I can't find where I would look to see if I have a card linked to my account -- it would be a Barclay's card and not a Citi card, if that matters.

 

[CoP Luv]

I completely forgot that I lowered my CIP CL to $1k on Friday. I wasn't using the card and was planning on opening up a new one (not sure which yet). I was able to cancel my Plastiq payment that I had scheduled, thankfully.

Can I raise it back up? Red flag if I want to apply for another Chase card? I am at 4/24.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

I'm looking into the Citi AA biz cards because I am going through MSR withdrawal . . . I'm still not sure it's a good idea because I have no definite use for the points (no packages and the cancellation policy are two big drawbacks), but I do have a question: On the reddit page, it says "You will see significantly lower prices if you login and have an active Citi AA card tied to your account." I've poked around both of the AA sites and I can't find where I would look to see if I have a card linked to my account -- it would be a Barclay's card and not a Citi card, if that matters.

If you’re searching on useaamiles.com you’ll see this message:

Log In Now: AAdvantage® elite status members and co-branded credit cardholders enjoy exclusive rates
​

I’m not sure if the same policy applies to AAvacations. I don’t think it does though. I think on that site the rates are the rates no matter what.

 

[afan]

Ok, I'm new here. Race Team? What race team?

Penske Indycar and sports car Back home in Seattle now kidding I don't use an umbrella but it rains all the time, I know nothing of the 80 degree days coming up

Without @Lain spreadsheet, I remember you being late 30's - early 40's. So at your age you feel 4 weeks is an okay amount of time off in a year? No way I'm judging anyone, just trying to get a feel for what people think is appropriate and at what age.

Turned 40 on Sunday I started with 2 weeks at my last two jobs, one was vacation the other was PTO. Granted at both we only got like 7 holiday's a year, the race team we only got the 4th if it was M-F if it was a weekend we didn't get an extra day unless you were required to travel for a race. We did get good friday though, gotta love the south. Even my first out of college was 5 vacation, 5 sick and 2 personal, love those and more places should use them. But I don't think now days starting at 2 is unreasonable and going up to 4 + within 10-15 years there realistic. Granted unless I find a job that I like enough to stay that long I'll never get there but when you look at the amount of time people get in Europe we really do work too much and need more time off.

Where my friend works in VA I think she's up to 4 or more weeks but it's hard to say. But she can also buy a week every year which she does. She has no problem taking 2 weeks off. Now she has had to make sure timesheets get submitted for her people when we've been gone and had a couple texts or emails to address but not much and it was mostly just being kept up with the stuff going on. Few more years and I think she'll have been there 20 years.

 

[wendow]

Without @Lain spreadsheet, I remember you being late 30's - early 40's. So at your age you feel 4 weeks is an okay amount of time off in a year? No way I'm judging anyone, just trying to get a feel for what people think is appropriate and at what age.

My dh is almost mid-40's. He gets 25 days plus every other Friday (works a 9/80 schedule) plus the week from Christmas to NY. I think it's a great amount of vacation but he may be changing jobs here soon and this will all change. I'm hoping he will try to negotiate for extra vaca time but not sure he will do that.

 

[mmmears]

Those are my exact feelings as well. I wish we had a choice in the matter but we don't. The policy is effective July 1, and they are pushing for all ETO to be used by then. He is just a few years from retirement and we had been planning on using his unused vacation pay as a bridge into retirement. Not happening now, and I think that is EXACTLY the reason the company is moving to this. Cut their liability to employees, get them to use all their vacation time, and then have a mass layoff. Why yes, I MAY be a cynic.

I'm a cynic, too. But all I see is that it works well for the employer and as for the employee it's more of a YMMV thing, which means there is no guarantees. Like @afan said, there seems to be little understanding of the need for a work/life balance in this country.

I’ve never had a desire to cruise before and I’m not a beach type person. This cruise was for a desire to see Alaska. I could see doing other cruises with great interesting ports, but doubt we will because $$$. I’d love to take a Galapagos or Yangtze River cruise...when I hit the lottery.

A friend took a cruise to the Galapagos and it sounded amazing! But I think it also made our Norway/Iceland/Scotland DCL cruise look cheap be comparison, so I don't have any plans to go there any time soon.

 

[wendow]

If you’re searching on useaamiles.com you’ll see this message:

Log In Now: AAdvantage® elite status members and co-branded credit cardholders enjoy exclusive rates
​

I’m not sure if the same policy applies to AAvacations. I don’t think it does though. I think on that site the rates are the rates no matter what.

Isn't it the opposite? I thought the better rates were after logging in at AAvacations.com.

 

[platamama]

On another note, having a child recently I’m really getting into getting our finances in order and not paying as much for vacation. I’ve started looking into rewards checking accounts with at least 3% APR and money market savings accounts with at least 2.40%. Does anyone use these types of accounts in conjunction with their churning? If so, do you have any recommendations?

I love my Discover checking.

 

[AmyAnne]

If you’re searching on useaamiles.com you’ll see this message:

Log In Now: AAdvantage® elite status members and co-branded credit cardholders enjoy exclusive rates
​

I’m not sure if the same policy applies to AAvacations. I don’t think it does though. I think on that site the rates are the rates no matter what.

Thanks. The message I see is: "Thank you for logging in. AAdvantage® elite status members and co-branded credit cardholders enjoy exclusive rates."

The only co-branded AA card I have is from Barclays. I'm guessing AA knows I have the card since my miles from the Barclay card do get sent to the right place.

 

[amalone1013]

This last job also didn't pay us for any unused vacation and we couldn't roll it over, so that's not an everywhere thing.

I think paying out depends on the state. My old job was headquartered just outside seattle but I worked at the CO location and CO requires them to pay out. I was told they had to update the manual because it said you didnt get paid out originally, after some people pointed it out to the owner/HR lady (who were in WA)

 

[wanderlust7]

Given his age and time in his field I feel he should have more time off. The problem we are running into now is he has just taken two weeks, has another 8 days needed in September, and 5-8 days for October. Under the old policy that would have been over two fiscal years and would not have been a problem. Now, with a new immediate supervisor (as in one week) who has no knowledge of dh's work ethic, I feel he will be judged and be very uncomfortable requesting ANY time off.

Is your DH supposed to use up the 2019 time by September 30? If so, that September trip would be okay? If you have flexibility, maybe you want to postpone the October trip. Because it's a new supervisor. Perception is important.

ETA: Oh wait, I just realized the October trip is the NCL Bliss cruise you just got excited about! Argh. So that would suck. Maybe just explain that it was already planned with the 2020 time before this change was announced.

Okay, I'm no help.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Isn't it the opposite? I thought the better rates were after logging in at AAvacations.com.

Ok so we’re saying two separate things here.

To clarify:
1) Useaamiles.com offers better rates logged in than not logged in (and better rates for elites and cardholders)
2) AAvacations.com I believe has the same rates For everybody (I think)

And YES aavacations has the better rates for Disney Resorts (even with the throwaway rental car). Useaamiles still has usefulness for non Disney hotels or rental cards, etc.

 

[MKTokyo]

Is your DF Japanese? Is there a cultural difference regarding vacations?

Yes. It used to be that people would literally work themselves to death & never use their vacation time so the government actually had to step in and try to force people to take it. But, times are changing. I think there is a generational divide. Younger workers are more likely to take vacations (& to take longer vacations) than older workers are.

The issue was always that nobody wanted to look lazy or that they felt guilty about going off on a trip while everyone else was still working hard (& ostensibly doing even more work because someone was away). That attitude is (slowly) going away because there is more awareness of mental health, burnout, exhaustion, etc. People are more encouraging & supportive of their coworkers taking time off.

Up until very recently, another reason was that most people got a job right after graduation & continued to work at the same company forever. Everybody graduated in March, everybody started their new jobs in April, and everybody stayed put. People felt very loyal to their companies & didn't want to "let them down" by not being there. The way companies hire is also very different than in other countries... often you aren't hired for a particular position but rather as a general employee of Company X. It's hard for them to fire you even if you are really terrible, but on the other hand, they can tell you to do pretty much whatever they want. Nobody wants to work in the mail room of the Hokkaido satellite office for 30 years because they went to Disneyland for a week. This kind of lifetime job is also (not-so-slowly) going away.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

...nobody wanted to look lazy or that they felt guilty about going off on a trip while everyone else was still working hard...

I literally attempt to be lazy most days and feel awesome when I go on a trip...

LOL!

 

[platamama]

I am having a whole bunch of issues at Walmart trying to load my sunrise VGCs to serve, but im pretty sure the people don't know how to load serve. I was going without any issues and now the last two times I have had two cashiers who insist on swiping the serve card on my side of the terminal. When I went before and it actually worked the cashier swiped the serve card and I swiped the debit card. Isn't that how it is supposed to work?

Sorry to hear you're having troubles. At my WM, the terminals face away from the cashiers and they never see the cards I'm using (including when managers are working the terminals) and I do all the swiping myself.

 

[MKTokyo]

I literally attempt to be lazy most days and feel awesome when I go on a trip...

LOL!

"SEE YA LATER, SUCKERS "

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

"SEE YA LATER, SUCKERS "

I don’t say that......

(I just think it) HAHA!

 

[Mopedmom1]

Is your DH supposed to use up the 2019 time by September 30? If so, that September trip would be okay? If you have flexibility, maybe you want to postpone the October trip. Because it's a new supervisor. Perception is important.

ETA: Oh wait, I just realized the October trip is the NCL Bliss cruise you just got excited about! Argh. So that would suck. Maybe just explain that it was already planned with the 2020 time before this change was announced.

Okay, I'm no help.

Lol!

The employees are being urged to use their existing ETO by July 1. Fiscal Year End is September 30. We are visiting my parents in Alaska in September and yes, the cruise in October. Flights have bought for the Sept trip, the cruise has a refundable deposit on it. No time off has been requested yet as it has never been a problem before.