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

[Judique]

Ahhh one more AMEX Plat Uber credit question. Let's say I app for DH right now and he gets instant approval... Do I need to use a credit by the 31st or I lost out, since it's the end of the month? I'm thinking maybe I should just wait until the 1st for that reason, plus I will definitely be using an uber on the cruise trip next month anyways.

You are still 'losing' May's credit if you wait to app in June. That's not really a reason to wait. Waiting doesn't put you ahead.

 

[Alexle2007]

theres a way to save your uber credit into next month. You just book a ride for $15 and then cancel it after a minute.

Can it be over $15? Will it then stack them for future months? Curious since I am lucky to Uber once a year but hate losing the $15 a month.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Seriously, it takes 3 days to be able to access the AA eGC? That’s ridiculous!
We are sorry but your American Airlines Virtual Gift Card is not yet ready to be retrieved. Please check back with us after 06:55 PM CDT on May 31, 2019.

I believe Delta also does this. I think it is a fraud protection mechanism. I can see how one would miss it but they include it very prominently on the gift card landing page:
https://giftcards.aa.com/

• Need to give a gift now? Your Gift Card email will be delivered immediately, however the Gift Card will not be available for use for 72 hours.

And then again on the actual purchase screen:
https://giftcards.aa.com/order.jsp?giftcard=Virtual

• Note: Your Gift Card email will be delivered immediately, however the Gift Card will not be available for use for 72 hours.

I know none of this helps you now but I'd guess it is to prevent somebody from purchasing a gift card fraudulently and then purchasing an immediate flight somewhere using the gift card or selling the gift card to a re-seller or something else along those lines.

 

[LuckyMamaInDE]

That’s a really loaded question, and if you ever want to discuss it in more detail let us know.

The best time to have jumped on the Marriott cards would’ve been before last August. If you had started before then, you could’ve gotten up to 6 Marriott/SPG cards with SUBs between Chase and Amex before Marriott consolidated their credit card offerings between Chase/Amex and the credit card issuers imposed restrictions on the remaining cards that effectively makes you choose whether to go for Chase’s cards or Amex’s cards.

We joked that the following was the Infinity Gauntlet of Starriott cards: (1) the Chase Marriott Premier/Premier Plus personal card, (2) the Chase Marriott Biz card, (3) the Chase Ritz-Carlton personal card, (4) the Amex SPG personal card, (5) the Amex SPG Biz card, and released in August just days before new restrictions took effect was the (6) Amex SPG Lux card. Total up the SUBs on all of these, and you were looking at over 500k Marriott points. Before the merger last August, you could have also transferred Marriott points through the SPG program between P2 and P1 and come out with an even bigger consolidated stash!

I don’t think the Ritz-Carlton card had a points SUB; it offered FNs instead, and it still gives a 50k FN cert every year. That was discontinued on 7/26/18. The Chase Marriott Biz and Amex SPG personal cards were discontinued 2/12/19. You can now only apply for the Bonvoy renamed versions of the Marriott Premier Plus (Bonvoy Boundless, Chase’s consumer card), the SPG Biz (Bonvoy Business, Amex’s small business card) and the SPG Lux (Bonvoy Brilliant, Amex’s super premium consumer card). Only 3 cards.

However, under restrictions put in place by Marriott/Chase/Amex effective 8/26/18 – very basically – if you get or have Chase’s Bonvoy card(s), or got a bonus on Chase’s card(s) in the past 2 years, you’re ineligible for the bonus on Amex’s Bonvoy cards. And if you go ahead and open Amex’s Bonvoy card(s) without the bonus anyway, you’ll have or have had the card(s) for the purposes of making yourself ineligible for the bonus on the(se) card(s) forever under Amex’s once per lifetime bonus rules. Similarly, if you get Amex’s Bonvoy card(s) and their bonus, you’re basically ineligible for Chase’s card for the next two years – not to mention, you’ll use up a personal card slot for the SPG Lux/Bonvoy Brilliant that may make it harder or you ineligible for the remaining Chase Bonvoy card in two years (5/24 rule). I think these restrictions also made you ineligible for (certain?) Chase Bonvoy card(s) if you hold (certain?) Amex Bonvoy cards, and vice versa, which means you’d need to close the offending card(s) before applying for the other issuer’s card(s), which makes just keeping all the cards open and collecting up to 6 FN certs every year difficult/impossible. The restrictions are as one blog called it “Byzantine,” and basically you’ll want to choose a lane (Chase or Amex) and consider eligibility issues based on the cards you have, bonuses you got, and what card you want to apply for. Not to mention points transfers are done only through the Marriott program now, by calling in, and are limited to 100k points transferred per year, with a $10 fee if you have only peasant status.

I already had the Marriott Biz, SPG Biz and personal cards, but I also picked up the Marriott Premier Plus and the SPG Lux before the restrictions took effect last August because … FOMO. Doing so took me over 5/24 for a while, but I’m glad I did it because between my wife and I, we amassed over 800k Marriott points. (That stash has gone down a lot in the past year.) I would not be able to do that with just credit card signups under the new Bonvoy program today.

If I were targeting a major hotel chain’s credit cards and were willing to burn 5/24 slots to get personal cards (or stay over 5/24 for the long haul), I’d probably go with Hilton at this point. You can get 4 Hilton cards from Amex (1 biz, 3 personals) with SUBs ranging from 100k-150k each, not including self- and cross-referral bonuses. There’s also the potential for upgrade bonuses. Holding the Aspire also makes it ridiculously easy to earn Hilton points on paid stays. You’re looking at a minimum of 34x points earned per $1, because the Aspire gives you automatic Diamond status which gets you 20x points per $1 spent, and putting a room charge on the Aspire card earns you another 14x points per $1. Not to mention Hilton is constantly running points promotions that’ll get you even more points. And Hilton makes it easy (and free) to transfer/pool up to 500k points per year. If you’re willing to put a lot of spend on the Hilton cards, several of them come with free weekend night certs that can be incredibly valuable. You’ve seen what amazing redemption value you can get out of Hilton from folks like @MKTokyo (Waldorf Astoria Trianon Palace Versailles), @*WDW*Groupie* (Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi), and @calypso726 (Conrad Rangali Maldives).

Anyway, don’t forget, UR points transfer to Hyatt 1:1, so when you’ve spent all your Hyatt points, you can eye UR SUBs to replenish your stash (but that takes some commitment to staying under 5/24).

Oh, believe me, I educated him on Marriott vs Hilton cards! My post was just to illustrate just how far formerly-reluctant P2 dh has come in 11 months Thanks for typing all that up as it was helpful to refresh my memory.

Our 2020 trip will be using UR, both directly and transferred to partners. 2021 is being discussed, so we may be switching away from Chase for that trip!

 

[Alexle2007]

I believe Delta also does this. I think it is a fraud protection mechanism. I can see how one would miss it but they include it very prominently on the gift card landing page:
https://giftcards.aa.com/

• Need to give a gift now? Your Gift Card email will be delivered immediately, however the Gift Card will not be available for use for 72 hours.

And then again on the actual purchase screen:
https://giftcards.aa.com/order.jsp?giftcard=Virtual

• Note: Your Gift Card email will be delivered immediately, however the Gift Card will not be available for use for 72 hours.

I know none of this helps you now but I'd guess it is to prevent somebody from purchasing a gift card fraudulently and then purchasing an immediate flight somewhere using the gift card or selling the gift card to a re-seller or something else along those lines.

Clearly, I was too busy using that $250 credit Rather than reading the screens Not that it matters since I have no use for the GC.

 

[GusGus16]

Has anyone heard of the BOA Travel Rewards for Students card? It looks like it is 1.5 earn rate, $250 (25,000 points) SUB for $1000 spend and no Foreign Transaction Fees. Is there any reason I should tell my DDs friend not to get this card? I have a feeling she will be a one and done with CCs so this seems like it should be a good option? Am I missing anything?

My first card was a BOA card, still have it to help with my average age of credit, mine is not a travel card, but a cash back card. Put very minimal spend, only use it the spend is a 3% category or if there is a special offer. Really is not a good earner of a card. I find BOA difficult to work with. I am assuming that the travel card would also make you redeem at least $25 dollars worth, drives me batty to not be able to redeem the odd amounts I earn every statement. I'm not sure if the BOA travel reward card has an annual fee, if it doesn't it still may make sense for her, as I hate to advocate for AF's for someone that isn't looking to churn and who may be just starting off as they probably can't justify the fees. Overall think there are better cards and better issuers.

 

[DisneyMandC]

DH's 2nd Citi AA Biz came today. Activated and set up autopay. I was reading some of the DPs on getting/not getting the bonus on reddit. Wish there was clear evidence what worked and didn't (excluding mailers).

For my 2nd Citi Biz, I still had my 1st one open, used the dummy booking (40K/2K with $250 stmt credit). For DH, I had already closed his 1st card 2 months before applying. Still used the dummy booking offer, same as me. I'll see if closing his card affects getting the bonus. I probably won't go for a gift card for the stmt credit until I see if I get the bonus.

I have similar stats: Already had a biz card for each of us. DH's first is still open and I closed mine several months ago. My statement credit for the GC already posted with my first statement close. DH got the letter today that he will get the match. We'll see what happens when his statement closes.

 

[afan]

I wonder if this a newer development? I have the BoA Alaska Airlines card that I opened in 2013 and always pay with my linked CU checking account.

I also pay my bofa alaska from my CU via the bofa website. I've paid the bofa card with suntrust when I had it, bofa before that and washington mutual before that. Never been an issue and I always pay through the bofa website. They'd lose so many customers if you could only pay with a bofa account on their site.

 

[amalone1013]

I've gotten this a couple times from people when I say we're taking our parents to WDW in September. I want to be like "it's cheaper for me to take them there than anywhere else." lol. I'm still on track to spend less than $2500 OOP for a trip worth over $8000.

It's amazing how many people never look for deals and just assume everyone else is paying full price all the time too... Well you must be made of money then!

Some easy Disney math (between being a nerd but also knowing of resources like Mousesavers) tells me they are spending $2400 for 2 rooms for a week at Caribbean Beach it sounds so expensive since we dont pay cash or full price anymore lol.

I don't want to sound like I think it is their responsibility to pay aunts way all the time or anything, but I've always found their relationship strange in this way... aunt retired early from a work buyout, with a very modest retirement lifestyle to do that. Then was free childcare for them all that time. And now, when both husband and wife are making very good salaries, modest home, etc... aunt has to pay them for her share of dinner if they eat out once or twice a month. I just don't get it... if you will drop $200 on wine at a time, or $26k on a restored classic car like that $20 isn't going to make or break you for the month? Why don't you let aunt get her own ticket then? It's always they pay one bill and she gives them cash. Though... those things could be why $20 could make or break them... on the other hand when they take the wife's mom on trips they cover everything... take her to eat or to the movies they pay for her share... I think the real answer lies in here

*also I can see their tickets now and they have a week booked and 3 day PHs?*

You are still 'losing' May's credit if you wait to app in June. That's not really a reason to wait. Waiting doesn't put you ahead.

Do you mean losing as in, i wont get a may credit because i dont have the card? I dont have huge pressing spend where waiting a week will hurt me, and I'd rather be able to use all 12 months of credit I just wanted to make sure I'm on the same page.

 

[WVMomof3]

My first card was a BOA card, still have it to help with my average age of credit, mine is not a travel card, but a cash back card. Put very minimal spend, only use it the spend is a 3% category or if there is a special offer. Really is not a good earner of a card. I find BOA difficult to work with. I am assuming that the travel card would also make you redeem at least $25 dollars worth, drives me batty to not be able to redeem the odd amounts I earn every statement. I'm not sure if the BOA travel reward card has an annual fee, if it doesn't it still may make sense for her, as I hate to advocate for AF's for someone that isn't looking to churn and who may be just starting off as they probably can't justify the fees. Overall think there are better cards and better issuers.

Thanks, I appreciate your’s and @platamama’s input. I am assuming she doesn’t have a great credit score, she is 22 and never had a job or anything in her name. Not even sure what she is putting as income. She just graduated undergrad, but is doing a 3/2 program so will be in school another year for Masters. As I said, she is an AU on her mom’s Disney card which should help her, but I know my friend sometimes carries a balance so mom has a good score, but probably not a great score. So, I am really thinking she needs a student type card to get approved. She will use it heavily overseas so I think the Discover and the Freedom Unlimited I would normally suggest for teens are out. This is a no Annual Fee card also.

 

[LuckyMamaInDE]

Who has been to Australia/NZ on points? What have you done to make it happen? I have time and have heeded enough of @calypso726 's advice to know where you are going 2+ years in advance so you can get the points/miles by the time 1 year comes around to book at the best rates.

We will be going to Australia (and maybe New Zealand) in September/October 2020. We started from *zero points of any sort* last July.

The current plan (as of last night) includes New Zealand and transferring UR to United:

• EWR/PHL to SYD business class, connecting through IAH: 160K miles
• Perth-Auckland economy on Air New Zealand: 35K miles (I don't think there's a business class; need to investigate further)
• ALK-SFO/LAX/IAH business on Air New Zealand: 180K miles (then using SW RR and CP to get home)

If we do not include New Zealand, our total miles will be 320-340K on United or partners, probably into SYD and out of Perth.

Our itinerary includes:

• Sydney
• Lady Elliot Island at the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef (almost all-inclusive) http://www.ladyelliot.com.au
• Uluru
• taking the Indian Pacific train across Australia (dh's bucket list item, all-inclusive) https://journeybeyondrail.com.au/journeys/indian-pacific/
• national parks areas north of Perth
• and potentially sites on the North Island for 3-4 days

Dh got the World of Hyatt card when the tiered bonus was higher because he had a lot of reimbursable spend. We will use Hyatt points to stay in Sydney for 4 nights (20K ea) and Perth (8K ea) for 2 nights.

We will book through the UR portal for

• rental cars in Yulara (resort for Uluru) and Perth, about 22K for 3 days and 17K for 5 days, respectively (Avis)
• a B&B in Denham West Australia, 17K for 2 nights for a room with a sea-view balcony
• Sydney Opera House backstage tour with breakfast 15K or regular guided tour 3600 UR

So we'll still be paying real money for a lot---Lady Elliot Island and seaplane flights, Yulara hotel, the train (omg so pricey), a B&B in Kalbarri Western Australia (though there are some tiny motels through the UR portal), some basic activities, gas, food---plus there are flights on Virgin Australia between SYD-Yulara and SYD-Hervey Bay (to connect w island seaplane) to figure out. And that's not including anything in New Zealand!

 

[StephPlum]

Crazy day. Lots of tornadoes here around Dayton. I live south of town, so no damage for me.

Just got a reward from Verizon - an Amazon gift card. Free money for doing nothing!

Glad you were safe from the storms. I'm in Columbus and was woken up at midnight by the tornado sirens. We didn't get anything here but wind gusts and rain.

I have similar stats: Already had a biz card for each of us. DH's first is still open and I closed mine several months ago. My statement credit for the GC already posted with my first statement close. DH got the letter today that he will get the match. We'll see what happens when his statement closes.

That is a great sign you got the statement credit.
For getting your match

 

[GusGus16]

Now that I have had some time to get things put back together after the vacay I'll breakdown the credit card worthy highlights-

Hotels:
Four points by Sheraton Anaheim 2 rooms x 5 nights booked with Marriott points 140,000-using the 5th night free benefit. Rack rate was $807 x 2, so 1.15c/point, excellent redemption value for this hotel. Parking was expensive at $16/day.

Pretty much the remainder of hotels were to minimize the cash outlay for the rooms:

Residence Inn Dana pt San Juan Capistrano 1 night with 25,000 Marriott points. Rack rate 234 so 0.93c/point. Parking 16/day. I hadn't stayed in a residence inn in a long time and they are doing something called nightly socials on certain nights, that night they were doing chicken sandwiches and had chips and potato salad and fruit, pretty much a full meal with wine and beer, and then the typical breakfast in the morning. This was the only hotel that I was really upgraded with my gold status, other than "view" upgrades. Hotel relatively new, pool area was nice, but it is by railroad tracks.

Residence Inn Beverley Hills 1 night with 35,000 Marriott points. Rack rate 254 so 0.72c/point. Parking was absurd at 36/day. We only spent 1 night in LA and it was overwhelming. Overall I feel the hotel was in a good location, LA is just huge and we just did the walk of fame, Griffiths observatory, and dinner.

Fairfield Inn and Suites Santa Maria 1 night with 25,000 points. Rack rate 156 so 0.62c/point. Probably most disappointing hotel we stayed at, was in the right area with the distance we drove, but wish we would have gone a bit more north and spent the night at a nicer hotel, especially with the redemption value I got, I was limiting my search to Marriott properties to really keep the out of pocket cost low, so that was a huge limitation. Nothing wrong with the hotel, was basic and did what it needed to, but would not recommend as there are better hotels and better areas to stay on this road trip.

Springhill Suites the dunes on Monterrey Bay 1 night with 35,000 points. Rack rate 313, so 0.89c/point. Hotel is new and nice. Just wished we would have stayed in the Big sur area, I had dreams of staying at the Hyatt that @Lain talks about, but didn't have the UR points to transfer, I had even looked at staying in a yurt but that required a 2 night stay minimum. If I would do this again I would stay somewhere in big sur and really be able to do more of the hiking/site seeing on the way. Driving Hwy 1 all day was exhausting, great but exhausting.

Residence Inn San Jose Airport 1 night 25,000. Rack rate 180, so 0.72 c/point. If you have a flight out of San Jose would recommend this hotel-new hotel, airport shuttle, and guest service was excellent. Although the redemption value wasn't great it really was a very good choice, also close to the light rail.

Did stay 3 nights at the Residence Inn San Diego Downtown, paid cash given it was for a work conference and would get reimbursed. The front picture online really doesn't do it justice as it looks like it might be sketchy, but it was a nice hotel, good pool area. It is in little Italy which we enjoyed, although I think the Lamplight district would have been a bit nicer. Still a good location for site seeing.

Overall, if I did my math correctly average Marriott redemption value was 0.965c/pt which overall is a good value, especially for Marriott points. Used up my sign up bonuses for my AMEX SPG cards. 20 nights to platinum status this year, which I'm doubtful I will get.

Flights: all on southwest booked with points and used the companion pass for the return flights as my companion joined me mid-trip. Initial flights about 1.39c/point, which is a low redemption for southwest and return flight was 1.6 (double if you count the companion fare on top of that).

Rental car: through costco 13 days, for about $500 dollars. Paid with my SPG Lux for the rental car insurance.

Return flight had a connection in Denver, first time in Denver and my companion thought I was a rockstar when we ate at Timberline, using the PP benefit of the SPG Lux, so sad to see this benefit taken away as now will probably be the only time I was able to take advantage of it. Food was good.

Used several Amex offers to get Disney gift cards for tickets and spending money anywhere from 10-20% savings.

I don't think there were any other highlights that were credit card worthy. Was hoping to have a new MSR with the grAAvy train, but I was unable to board the train. Trying to plan my next step, currently 4/24 soon to be 3/24, thinking maybe an AMEX but nothing specifically is peaking my interest at this time, and I don't really want to add another card that I need to keep in the rotation (with this trip I think I should be in AMEX good graces for a while given the spend). Have about a month and then may think about another CIP, although I had wanted to wait until the first hit a year. CIP2 bonus should post at next statement close. May consider retrying boarding the train, but have a while before I can even try. The biggest problem I'm having is I don't currently have a trip that I'm planning, so I'm not really sure what points I want to chase, other than URs. Decided the next trip I do is going to be very chill and relaxing, not go go go like the last 2. Taking a break from Disney for real, although I super enjoyed DL, way more than I was expecting. Hawaii is in my sights again, especially with the recent discussion, even started looking at United flights, but the nonstop option is almost 9 hours and I would want first class, no options for any first class nonstop flight for the next year on united and with the devaluation not sure I could afford the point cost and the cash cost is almost 2,000, so that is for sure a no. Churning problems for sure, maybe I'll go after a bank bonus or two while I'm deciding what to do with the credit cards

Well another super long post from GusGus, thanks for anyone who made it through! I also loved several days ago when everyone was talking about Gusgus, can't remember who exactly was part of that conversation. I named my cat after Gus Gus and he only has a slight complex because he is named after an animated mouse

 

[Lain]

Oh, believe me, I educated him on Marriott vs Hilton cards! My post was just to illustrate just how far formerly-reluctant P2 dh has come in 11 months Thanks for typing all that up as it was helpful to refresh my memory.

Oh thank goodness!

 

[Lain]

Just wished we would have stayed in the Big sur area, I had dreams of staying at the Hyatt that @Lain talks about, but didn't have the UR points to transfer, I had even looked at staying in a yurt but that required a 2 night stay minimum. If I would do this again I would stay somewhere in big sur and really be able to do more of the hiking/site seeing on the way. Driving Hwy 1 all day was exhausting, great but exhausting.

I’ll post pictures!

 

[Albort]

Can it be over $15? Will it then stack them for future months? Curious since I am lucky to Uber once a year but hate losing the $15 a month.

i think it charges your card if its over $15. ive never done it before, i just read about it.

 

[Judique]

Do you mean losing as in, i wont get a may credit because i dont have the card? I dont have huge pressing spend where waiting a week will hurt me, and I'd rather be able to use all 12 months of credit I just wanted to make sure I'm on the same page.

I don't think I'm on the same page. Do you mean 'use all 12 months of credit' as in 'after 12 months I'm going to close the card'? That's where I'm maybe on a different page - I rarely close cards so I saw it as 'each month there is a credit' versus 'sign up early enough to use that month's credit'. Then there's the @Albort tip...get the card, and card number right away, book and cancel. I wouldn't get too close to end of the month on that one though.

 

[wendow]

@SouthFayetteFan Any world on if your wife got approved for her next citi biz? Sorry if you posted the news already and I missed your post!

 

[CoP Luv]

We will be going to Australia (and maybe New Zealand) in September/October 2020. We started from *zero points of any sort* last July.

The current plan (as of last night) includes New Zealand and transferring UR to United:

• EWR/PHL to SYD business class, connecting through IAH: 160K miles
• Perth-Auckland economy on Air New Zealand: 35K miles (I don't think there's a business class; need to investigate further)
• ALK-SFO/LAX/IAH business on Air New Zealand: 180K miles (then using SW RR and CP to get home)

If we do not include New Zealand, our total miles will be 320-340K on United or partners, probably into SYD and out of Perth.

Our itinerary includes:

• Sydney
• Lady Elliot Island at the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef (almost all-inclusive) http://www.ladyelliot.com.au
• Uluru
• taking the Indian Pacific train across Australia (dh's bucket list item, all-inclusive) https://journeybeyondrail.com.au/journeys/indian-pacific/
• national parks areas north of Perth
• and potentially sites on the North Island for 3-4 days

Dh got the World of Hyatt card when the tiered bonus was higher because he had a lot of reimbursable spend. We will use Hyatt points to stay in Sydney for 4 nights (20K ea) and Perth (8K ea) for 2 nights.

We will book through the UR portal for

• rental cars in Yulara (resort for Uluru) and Perth, about 22K for 3 days and 17K for 5 days, respectively (Avis)
• a B&B in Denham West Australia, 17K for 2 nights for a room with a sea-view balcony
• Sydney Opera House backstage tour with breakfast 15K or regular guided tour 3600 UR

So we'll still be paying real money for a lot---Lady Elliot Island and seaplane flights, Yulara hotel, the train (omg so pricey), a B&B in Kalbarri Western Australia (though there are some tiny motels through the UR portal), some basic activities, gas, food---plus there are flights on Virgin Australia between SYD-Yulara and SYD-Hervey Bay (to connect w island seaplane) to figure out. And that's not including anything in New Zealand!

Thank you SO MUCH! Your post is incredibly helpful and I will bookmark it. How did you accumulate all of your points for this?

I am well versed in UR and have transferred to United for Europe last year. I am pretty sure that is my preferred airline for Australia, but we have 100K MR for me and potentially 100K MR for DH if he gets the Amex Plat, so that is A LOT that we can use, if I can utilize the MR correctly. I'm not even sure how to figure out how many MR I would need or what airline...MR seem weird to me. I know. I'm clearly the weird one.

Our rough itinerary would be to fly to Sydney and get acclimated for a few days. Fly to NZ (not sure where...bucket list item for DH to fly-fish there and this city girl knows NOTHING about that), and then fly to Melbourne for the Australian Open (my bucket list item), before flying back to Chicago.

We have access to Friends and Family rates at Hyatt, but who knows if that would be available (or in budget - holy COW the NZ rates that I was looking at are crazy expensive!!!), but I am also a WOH member, but no points because I don't get points if I get a F&F rate, which is about 1/3 of the published rate...so I never minded not having WOH points.

So I guess the question is, do I go for more MR or UR???

 

[mmmears]

Now that I have had some time to get things put back together after the vacay I'll breakdown the credit card worthy highlights-

Hotels:
Four points by Sheraton Anaheim 2 rooms x 5 nights booked with Marriott points 140,000-using the 5th night free benefit. Rack rate was $807 x 2, so 1.15c/point, excellent redemption value for this hotel. Parking was expensive at $16/day.

Pretty much the remainder of hotels were to minimize the cash outlay for the rooms:

Residence Inn Dana pt San Juan Capistrano 1 night with 25,000 Marriott points. Rack rate 234 so 0.93c/point. Parking 16/day. I hadn't stayed in a residence inn in a long time and they are doing something called nightly socials on certain nights, that night they were doing chicken sandwiches and had chips and potato salad and fruit, pretty much a full meal with wine and beer, and then the typical breakfast in the morning. This was the only hotel that I was really upgraded with my gold status, other than "view" upgrades. Hotel relatively new, pool area was nice, but it is by railroad tracks.

Residence Inn Beverley Hills 1 night with 35,000 Marriott points. Rack rate 254 so 0.72c/point. Parking was absurd at 36/day. We only spent 1 night in LA and it was overwhelming. Overall I feel the hotel was in a good location, LA is just huge and we just did the walk of fame, Griffiths observatory, and dinner.

Fairfield Inn and Suites Santa Maria 1 night with 25,000 points. Rack rate 156 so 0.62c/point. Probably most disappointing hotel we stayed at, was in the right area with the distance we drove, but wish we would have gone a bit more north and spent the night at a nicer hotel, especially with the redemption value I got, I was limiting my search to Marriott properties to really keep the out of pocket cost low, so that was a huge limitation. Nothing wrong with the hotel, was basic and did what it needed to, but would not recommend as there are better hotels and better areas to stay on this road trip.

Springhill Suites the dunes on Monterrey Bay 1 night with 35,000 points. Rack rate 313, so 0.89c/point. Hotel is new and nice. Just wished we would have stayed in the Big sur area, I had dreams of staying at the Hyatt that @Lain talks about, but didn't have the UR points to transfer, I had even looked at staying in a yurt but that required a 2 night stay minimum. If I would do this again I would stay somewhere in big sur and really be able to do more of the hiking/site seeing on the way. Driving Hwy 1 all day was exhausting, great but exhausting.

Residence Inn San Jose Airport 1 night 25,000. Rack rate 180, so 0.72 c/point. If you have a flight out of San Jose would recommend this hotel-new hotel, airport shuttle, and guest service was excellent. Although the redemption value wasn't great it really was a very good choice, also close to the light rail.

Did stay 3 nights at the Residence Inn San Diego Downtown, paid cash given it was for a work conference and would get reimbursed. The front picture online really doesn't do it justice as it looks like it might be sketchy, but it was a nice hotel, good pool area. It is in little Italy which we enjoyed, although I think the Lamplight district would have been a bit nicer. Still a good location for site seeing.

Overall, if I did my math correctly average Marriott redemption value was 0.965c/pt which overall is a good value, especially for Marriott points. Used up my sign up bonuses for my AMEX SPG cards. 20 nights to platinum status this year, which I'm doubtful I will get.

Flights: all on southwest booked with points and used the companion pass for the return flights as my companion joined me mid-trip. Initial flights about 1.39c/point, which is a low redemption for southwest and return flight was 1.6 (double if you count the companion fare on top of that).

Rental car: through costco 13 days, for about $500 dollars. Paid with my SPG Lux for the rental car insurance.

Return flight had a connection in Denver, first time in Denver and my companion thought I was a rockstar when we ate at Timberline, using the PP benefit of the SPG Lux, so sad to see this benefit taken away as now will probably be the only time I was able to take advantage of it. Food was good.

Used several Amex offers to get Disney gift cards for tickets and spending money anywhere from 10-20% savings.

I don't think there were any other highlights that were credit card worthy. Was hoping to have a new MSR with the grAAvy train, but I was unable to board the train. Trying to plan my next step, currently 4/24 soon to be 3/24, thinking maybe an AMEX but nothing specifically is peaking my interest at this time, and I don't really want to add another card that I need to keep in the rotation (with this trip I think I should be in AMEX good graces for a while given the spend). Have about a month and then may think about another CIP, although I had wanted to wait until the first hit a year. CIP2 bonus should post at next statement close. May consider retrying boarding the train, but have a while before I can even try. The biggest problem I'm having is I don't currently have a trip that I'm planning, so I'm not really sure what points I want to chase, other than URs. Decided the next trip I do is going to be very chill and relaxing, not go go go like the last 2. Taking a break from Disney for real, although I super enjoyed DL, way more than I was expecting. Hawaii is in my sights again, especially with the recent discussion, even started looking at United flights, but the nonstop option is almost 9 hours and I would want first class, no options for any first class nonstop flight for the next year on united and with the devaluation not sure I could afford the point cost and the cash cost is almost 2,000, so that is for sure a no. Churning problems for sure, maybe I'll go after a bank bonus or two while I'm deciding what to do with the credit cards

Well another super long post from GusGus, thanks for anyone who made it through! I also loved several days ago when everyone was talking about Gusgus, can't remember who exactly was part of that conversation. I named my cat after Gus Gus and he only has a slight complex because he is named after an animated mouse

Thanks for sharing. I think it's really helpful to me when people share the way they use points. It helps me think about better ways I can use mine, makes me think about trying new places, etc. Also, I hope you enjoyed our state. The coastline is really beautiful around Monterey, Carmel, and Big Sur. I'd love to stay at a nice hotel in Big Sur but the prices were insanely high when I looked. Luckily my cousin has a home there and has been kind enough to invite us to stay there for a weekend. It's amazing to see the moon rise over the ocean (like the sun - I had no idea it could do that) and to see all the stars from there. There is too much light pollution where I live and we can't see that many.