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

[mmmears]

Wow. Iooked up how many points per night I'd need at either the DLH or the GCH and now I'm thinking AA miles aren't the way to go for me. Guess I'll be zeroing in on Chase. The DL hotels cost so much more than the ones at WDW (in terms of what we want, that it) and I just can't justify it.

 

[ep1229]

Hello everyone!
I'm thankful for all the advice I've gotten on this thread. I'm back with another question.
I'm finishing up my MSR on my first CIP. Recently, I got the Amex Plat, Delta Gold Biz and both the personal and biz Alaska credit cards. Between the SUBs of those cards, I was able to get a direct flight to Tokyo on Delta One for 120K points (one way) and Biz class on Cathay Pacific for 50K miles (one way return). Not sure if those were the best redemptions since I'm new to this game. Any suggestions for next time?
My other question is what business card should I get next? Barclays Business AA? CIP #2? A hotel card? We are going to Alaska next summer so my main goal is to get points for flights for that trip and maybe some hotel stays.
Here's my stats:
05/19 CHASE CIP Business
04/19 BOA Alaska Airlines Business
03/19 AMEX Delta Gold Business
03/19 AMEX Platinum
02/19 BOA Alaska Airlines Personal
08/18 AMEX Gold
10/17 CHASE SPG
07/17 CHASE Sapphire Reserve
10/15 AMEX Delta Platinum Business

Thank you in advance.

 

[gottalovepluto]

And if I jumped off a bridge.....???

DUDE. STOP. My brain is currently fried, I cannot process Points v. Dictator at this time.

 

[gottalovepluto]

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[gottalovepluto]

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[Lain]

I irrationally dislike MMS and their clickbaity article titles. They all sound like spam. "This one COOL vacation TRICK to save you thousands!" I seriously have more angst towards them than TPG which makes no sense.

It's funny - I know MMS is how I started in this but I absolutely have a lot of angst towards them. One way they are worse than TPG is drawing attention to more fringe loopholes. Even a few years back they were posting things about getting the same BoA card 4 times in a month and stuff like that. They shut down their fair share of loopholes for sure with their lack of discretion...

Darius did like 10 Alaska cards in one month too and he effectively ended that particular gravy train. Greed.

Let’s not forget Keith “Tesla Guy” Rosso killed Plastiq 3x on the CIP.

 

[mmmears]

For. Sure. DLR hotel prices are significantly higher than WDW prices

Yeah it's just getting worse every time I check. GCH is double what I pay at WDW (and at WDW I can often get a club level room for half of a regular room at DL). I really hate flying across the country, but the math always points to a longer trip at WDW. We have decided to take a break for a few years, so who knows if any points will help us with Disney by the time we are ready to go back?

 

[gottalovepluto]

— (...stupid board software update...)

 

[gottalovepluto]

@mmmears I’m literally hitting reply to your comment but it’s not working so here goes...
Personally I think at least DLR has off-site walking distance hotels. They’re over twice as expensive as their WDW counterparts but they’re infinitely more convenient- in the time it takes you to get to your car at WDW you could be back at your offsite hotel at DLR. And MaxPass can make up for not having Early Morning access.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Let’s not forget Keith “Tesla Guy” Rosso killed Plastiq 3x on the CIP.

How is that possible? Fairly certain at this point half our tombstones will read something unfortunate about that fellow (I.e. “and here’s all the places XX was planning to travel to until KR destroyed their dreams”)

 

[wendow]

@mmmears I’m literally hitting reply to your comment but it’s not working so here goes...
Personally I think at least DLR has off-site walking distance hotels. They’re over twice as expensive as their WDW counterparts but they’re infinitely more convenient- in the time it takes you to get to your car at WDW you could be back at your offsite hotel at DLR. And MaxPass can make up for not having Early Morning access.

We stayed at the HoJo last summer. Booked through UR's using CSR points, was about $120 per room. I cannot complain. 15 min walk and moderate level amenities and room BUT we could see the DL fireworks from our balcony. Such a treat compared to WDW pricing. We paid $120 per night for POR in 2012 and now we pay 2x that in 2019 for the same room. SO wrong

 

[mmmears]

@mmmears I’m literally hitting reply to your comment but it’s not working so here goes...
Personally I think at least DLR has off-site walking distance hotels. They’re over twice as expensive as their WDW counterparts but they’re infinitely more convenient- in the time it takes you to get to your car at WDW you could be back at your offsite hotel at DLR. And MaxPass can make up for not having Early Morning access.

I have thought about it, but for my family it just feels like a real getaway when we stay on site, and it just doesn't when we stay off. I grew up staying mostly off-site so I know it's not horrible, but the relaxing part of the vacation (for me) has to do with how easy it is to return to our room once or twice during the day. When we were younger and spent the entire day in the park, DH and I were happy to save the money and stay off-site. Oh, and I no longer ever have a car at WDW (we split between an Epcot and a monorail resort so the only bus ride is to AK).

We stayed at the HoJo last summer. Booked through UR's using CSR points, was about $120 per room. I cannot complain. 15 min walk and moderate level amenities and room BUT we could see the DL fireworks from our balcony. Such a treat compared to WDW pricing. We paid $120 per night for POR in 2012 and now we pay 2x that in 2019 for the same room. SO wrong

I'm a confessed hotel snob, sadly. But with DD out of school and on to new things I think that our future trips will no longer be during peak or holiday season and I'm hoping we can find a better rate. WDW deluxes are half the price of the hotels at DL, and that's where I really struggle to find the value.

All of this is really just helping me decide that the break from Disney is a good thing and I think I'll focus on URs and MRs for now. Thank you both for your insights. Staying offsite is definitely something I will have to consider if we decide to go back to DL. Those GCH rooms are just not worth the price to me these days.

 

[wendow]

All of this is really just helping me decide that the break from Disney is a good thing

If my dd were not desperately trying to get into the DCP starting in Jan 2020, I'd be declaring a Disney break. I am so over the money grabs from them. I love Disney. I grew up on it, going to the MK for the first time at 8yo, and for many years after. I've raised my kids on the brand. But I'm very aware these days of just how much it costs to take a family vacation there. It's mind blowing and I have NO idea how the average person affords it!

I loved DLR. I loved so many things about it but one of my favs was how you could stay offsite and be just as close (in some cases, closer) than onsite guests. There were plenty of things I didn't prefer about DLR but the same could be said for WDW. There is equal charm. I love the bubble of WDW but the cost to be in that bubble has become ridiculous!

 

[afan]

Accident on front of the house has the street closed. I heard it while trying to fall asleep but thought it was further down the road. Then I realized there wasn't any traffic noise and then it was the 2 sec of siren that got me up and I saw the lights flashing through the windows. Seems way worse than any that happen during the day but with our fence up I can't see the one car but the one has a very smushed front end. Just an odd spot for the time of day. Sorry to share it all, just unnerving. 90+% of the accidents we see in front of the house no one goes in an ambulance. Downside of living on a busy road instead of up in the neighborhood.

 

[calypso726]

Yep, the beignets are great, but only as a once in a while dessert/treat for us. Hope you had some other really delectable meals to round out the experience!


Thanks to all of you, I was aware of the BA/LHR taxes & fees, but was willing to rationalize them as more of a discounted fare since we're so limited on options. I wish we had the 11mos notice, but it's rare that we plan so far out. I guess that further confirms I need to seek out more flexible reward options for this immediate trip.

Looks like CIP is going to be my target!

We did! We had dinner at Muriel's and have unexplained blue floating lights showing up in a number of pictures that were not visible to us when taking the picture. We also ate at Mother's and the Gumbo Shop.

I don't recall your other card stats but If you don't also have a CSR I would suggest that as well since you'd be able to make use of the $300 credit on your flights and your UR points will be worth more via the portal. The 149k points you'd get after spend would be worth $2235 as opposed to $1862.50 which effectively more than covers the $55 difference in the fee between a CSP and CSR after factoring in the travel credit.

Missed you @calypso726 ! I booked our return flights from the Maldives on the weekend and the research took me quite a while. I had to rule out Ethiad and Emirates because it looked like they were i) not on a program currently or ii) just with One World and when I checked I couldn't find any availability on points anyways.

I ended up booking us back on Qatar (URs) from Male to Doha, then used BA Avios to book DOH-LHR-MIA. Luckily Chase has a 30% bonus promotion currently that helped soften the blow to my UR balance. Of course the cash outlay for LHR was crazy (around $850.00), but not much I could do if I wanted the leg from DOH-LHR on Qatar (the flight from DOH-MIA is a 747 on BA).

I know you booked your flights for your recent trip on points and are considering going back (and I will happily enable you when we go with pics lol!).

Oh I haven't flown Qatar yet but am hoping to do so sometime down the line. I can't wait to see the pics and hear your thoughts on the new hotel there!

 

[3 DD love princesses]

Yes, plus I don't want to have to fight for it, then get all upset if it doesn't post. I'm not assuming I'll get more than one since I'm slow and these things tend to shut down before I even ramp up. Oh, and for your spreadsheet, I already have the personal one. I've had it so long I can't even tell you how old it is, but the original Citi card dates back to the 1990's (I PC'ed up to the AA version many, many years ago). It was my go-to card for spend before we discovered the Plat in 2011, at which point pretty much everything went on that one.



Since I don't like applying for cards and I don't like contacting them and asking for stuff, I was leaning towards the 70k offer anyway. I'm not even sure I want it, though, since I hate AA at the moment and by the time I try to book with Disney it'll probably not work for rooms anymore. Problems of a slow churner. We just got back from the East Coast and are going to Norway in a couple months, and even with the free flights and hotels we manage to spend quite a bit... so I'm not ready to book anything yet and worried that by the time I am it will be too late. Remember I got into this whole thing because URs would work for Disney and that ended just as we finally got a nice pile of URs? It's also just my nature to try to look for the best option, which means I take a while to decide (which can be a problem in this game).

The link for doc is still working for 75k.

 

[3 DD love princesses]

If my dd were not desperately trying to get into the DCP starting in Jan 2020, I'd be declaring a Disney break. I am so over the money grabs from them. I love Disney. I grew up on it, going to the MK for the first time at 8yo, and for many years after. I've raised my kids on the brand. But I'm very aware these days of just how much it costs to take a family vacation there. It's mind blowing and I have NO idea how the average person affords it!

I loved DLR. I loved so many things about it but one of my favs was how you could stay offsite and be just as close (in some cases, closer) than onsite guests. There were plenty of things I didn't prefer about DLR but the same could be said for WDW. There is equal charm. I love the bubble of WDW but the cost to be in that bubble has become ridiculous!

Doesn’t help Disney has so many commercials for cruises and aulani. Our girls keep asking. Which started the possibility of doing HI next break since we are taking a break from wdw.

 

[palhockeymomof2]

Hello everyone!
I'm thankful for all the advice I've gotten on this thread. I'm back with another question.
I'm finishing up my MSR on my first CIP. Recently, I got the Amex Plat, Delta Gold Biz and both the personal and biz Alaska credit cards. Between the SUBs of those cards, I was able to get a direct flight to Tokyo on Delta One for 120K points (one way) and Biz class on Cathay Pacific for 50K miles (one way return). Not sure if those were the best redemptions since I'm new to this game. Any suggestions for next time?
My other question is what business card should I get next? Barclays Business AA? CIP #2? A hotel card? We are going to Alaska next summer so my main goal is to get points for flights for that trip and maybe some hotel stays.
Here's my stats:
05/19 CHASE CIP Business
04/19 BOA Alaska Airlines Business
03/19 AMEX Delta Gold Business
03/19 AMEX Platinum
02/19 BOA Alaska Airlines Personal
08/18 AMEX Gold
10/17 CHASE SPG
07/17 CHASE Sapphire Reserve
10/15 AMEX Delta Platinum Business

Thank you in advance.

.

 

[hsmamato2]

I think lots of us have an embarrassing churner beginner story. I got my first CP by following a bunch of arrows from MMS. .....shame to my household LOL!

me too! I feel a fondness for that older blog...I needed the steps by step walkthroughs!

 

[amalone1013]

I think lots of us have an embarrassing churner beginner story. I got my first CP by following a bunch of arrows from MMS. .....shame to my household LOL!

I stumbled upon this hobby thanks to a blog like that. Except I think it did recommend an airline card. Started with SPGs and Disney cards. Then found this thread and went for CSR instead of a SW card... and the rest is history!