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

[Lain]

No unwanted family members showed up today and we found out the one burned bridges with more family so don't understand. We had a good time and the weather was great. Can't argue with the views either just wish the hills weren't in the way so you could see mt rainier since it's so close.

It’s peak lavender season! Just beautiful! And I’m sure the views and smells were relaxing too. What farm is this?

 

[afan]

It’s peak lavender season! Just beautiful! And I’m sure the views and smells were relaxing too. What farm is this?

I'll link to them https://www.cowlitzfallslavender.com They are my stepdad's family technically but would be cousins I guess since it was his niece and nephew.

It was pretty and it's very quiet out there since they are by the edge of the mountains and it's all 2 lane roads to get there. I was bummed that the bee's weren't out so there wasn't any buzzing. I didn't smell the lavender and we walked through it after the ceremony but it's not a smell I really like. I don't mind it but it's not something I seek out to use. They do all kinds of stuff and sell online along with at the farm, farmers market near them and some other stuff. They really enjoy it, they started it with their son and daughter in law, but it's not their full time thing yet though that's the eventual goal.

 

[PolyRob]

@PolyRob if you are waiting for a custom MB, the stitch one is showing up now.

ETA: actually 2 different stitch ones

Thank you! I see the roller coaster of emotions over the past few days over upgraded bands! Glad you finally got your order to go through! I am going to browse for my Oct trip!

 

[PolyRob]

Thanks! We went to the villain dah last night and I had a lot of fun!! Waiting for the bus at the end of the night almost ruined the experience but not quite. We waited 40 minutes for a bus back to wilderness lodge and were basically the only group left. Old key west had 3 buses while we were waiting and the last bus only picked up two people. The event was really fun though!

OMG!!! We were at the same DAH!! I experienced a VERY similar issue with the bus to Poly, GF, and CR. Mine took about 30 minutes to show up so you got me beat! It really did put a little damper on the evening. It was the worst bus situation I have experienced after a DAH. I did it at DHS last night and a boat was sitting and waiting to take my back to YC (I switched resorts). So simple. SMH

 

[PolyRob]

I think I’ll end up having to go alone but it won’t be this trip. Today was our only free time. We’re gonna go to hs tomorrow morning and then H2O glow at night

My family never wanted to go because it took time away from our trip. I always tried to bargain with them like we can do it on an AK day and get picked up for free and then driven back... still no LOL

I did it on my solo trip. It was probably the shortest tour known to man! I am already on a waitlist with another guide (I believe he only does phone sales) so the guide at WDW was like you will still deal with him. Do you want to see the rooms or just get your GC and FP+?! lol I toured Riviera and was on my way.

I applied the GC to my room charges so that was nice. It helped pay for my Ray-Bans. I sadly did not use ONE extra FP+! Oh well. Better than nothing.

 

[PolyRob]

Can they send us Paint the Night in the meantime?

Sadly I don't think WDW can ever get PTN (unless it is modified). I believe Mack (the giant truck) for the Cars segment cannot make the curve in the MK hub

I read that somewhere...

 

[PolyRob]

Back on page 1728. Change in plans meant we are back at WDW for the weekend and did DHS After Hours last night.

I was at the same DAH as a second person on this thread and did not know until two days later?! This is what only checking the SWGE thread and obsessing over DVC while away does to me SMH!! At least I am caught up now.

 

[wanderlust7]

Churning fail! Went to Lowe's to buy gift cards and was told debit card only. @Lain I found your post where you ran into the same thing, also at Lowe's! Don't think I'll have a chance to try another store. Oh well. This is what I get for doing it last minute.

Yes. My first Biz Plat is still open. It turns 1 year next month. I’ll be closing Biz Plat 1 once the AF posts in the next month and a half or so. Thinking of an upgrade?

Missed your question earlier. My Biz Gold was opened in January and the Biz Plat in March, so was thinking if there's an upgrade offer on the Biz Gold, I might go for it. But Biz Plat would still be open. So, good to hear that your's is still open. I was curious about possible upgrade to Aspire offers while holding an Aspire too. Hope it's similar.

@Wanderlust, let me know if this works for you. (The calling to get mr applied to southwest flight) I have read about it but the comments on the article were very ymmv so I never tried it. Would love to hear your experience!

Will do! Will probably wait a week or so, see if the Southwest GC credits first.

 

[Judique]

Churning fail! Went to Lowe's to buy gift cards and was told debit card only. @Lain I found your post where you ran into the same thing, also at Lowe's! Don't think I'll have a chance to try another store. Oh well. This is what I get for doing it last minute.

I did mine on the 26th at 2 separate Lowes here in Maryland, and spent $800 on Disney gift cards with no problem. Also got the Great News! email. This morning I looked and my credit has posted, back dated to June 27. And one purchase was $519 and second purchase was $319.xx as I had to buy some hardware items to repair a toilet and then go to the second one for something the first one didn't have on the shelf. They combined the credit to $83.38 despite 2 locations with the separate town names on each transaction.

I keep telling my daughter these offers appear to be manually calculated, but she insists they are 'automatic'. I've seen several mistakes that make me believe it's live people versus a computer program. I now have a 'double' offer credit I shouldn't have received at all on a different card. This was the $40 off $200 for a hotel stay, where I was overcharged and then refunded back in May. My final bill was $31, so this should not have generated any sort of credit and it didn't during real time. But, my 'second' statement closed on June 18, and a credit showed on that day. Next day, same credit showed again. Credit card balance was zero so now $80 credit on the card. It can sit there and let them figure it out as I quickly grew weary of explaining that mess. I did my best to be honest and get it all posted correctly. With this new credit they paid us to stay for 3 nights and I'm done.

It's Safeway that's giving me a headache. I have several more in the area that I can try, but the two closest want cash for gift cards. But my Staples does whatever if only I could get an offer there. So,YMMV!

 

[Judique]

So, in checking out my Amex cards this morning, I took a look at what my offers have paid me, or in another viewpoint - whether the card is carrying its weight or paying it's way:

I have 5 Amex:

Rose Gold: Offers only so far since I opened it in November = $203.25. Other benefits I've taken advantage of include a $100 SW gift card, $100 in restaurant credit in the first 3 months, plus the $10 monthly credit. Also, the 50K MR sign up bonus plus the additional from spend netted me $825 in Home Depot gift cards. For it's $250 fee, this card will stay in my wallet.

Optima no fee card: Offers since last June $140 - not counting my windfall credit. This card stays.

SPG Lux - Offers = $95. There is also the $300 Marriott credit and the 50K free night for annual fee of $450. This card stays. I value the free night at $300 plus. First year also the 100K Marriott points.

SPG personal - Offers = $100 since last June, plus the free night for annual fee of $95. This card stays. I can get $300 plus with the free night easily.

SPG business - Offers used = $0. Free night will come in Sept-Oct. Fee = $125. I think the 35K will again give me a room in the $300 range as I book very early and in peak season to use these nights. So far it is a keeper. But, I don't use this card...that worries me a bit that Amex will hold it against me if I apply for another card with them. May have to put some spend on it.

 

[Judique]

It’s peak lavender season! Just beautiful! And I’m sure the views and smells were relaxing too. What farm is this?

Going to go get a couple of lavender plants for my backyard today. Along with Mint, Citronella, Catnip and Marigolds this plant helps to repel mosquitos which are abundant due to our wet spring and early summer. I hate to use chemicals but have been forced to this year, but these plants will make me feel as if I'm doing something more healthy for the environment, plus I love lavender!

 

[amalone1013]

I was at the same DAH as a second person on this thread and did not know until two days later?! This is what only checking the SWGE thread and obsessing over DVC while away does to me SMH!! At least I am caught up now.

Aw man! And we weren't even supposed to go to that originally. Darn!

 

[happ]

So, in checking out my Amex cards this morning, I took a look at what my offers have paid me, or in another viewpoint - whether the card is carrying its weight or paying it's way:

I have 5 Amex:

Rose Gold: Offers only so far since I opened it in November = $203.25. Other benefits I've taken advantage of include a $100 SW gift card, $100 in restaurant credit in the first 3 months, plus the $10 monthly credit. Also, the 50K MR sign up bonus plus the additional from spend netted me $825 in Home Depot gift cards. For it's $250 fee, this card will stay in my wallet.

Optima no fee card: Offers since last June $140 - not counting my windfall credit. This card stays.

SPG Lux - Offers = $95. There is also the $300 Marriott credit and the 50K free night for annual fee of $450. This card stays. I value the free night at $300 plus. First year also the 100K Marriott points.

SPG personal - Offers = $100 since last June, plus the free night for annual fee of $95. This card stays. I can get $300 plus with the free night easily.

SPG business - Offers used = $0. Free night will come in Sept-Oct. Fee = $125. I think the 35K will again give me a room in the $300 range as I book very early and in peak season to use these nights. So far it is a keeper. But, I don't use this card...that worries me a bit that Amex will hold it against me if I apply for another card with them. May have to put some spend on it.

I was on the fence about keeping my SPG Biz card, but I used some profitable offers last year, my first year so waived AF, and I figured the offers sort of paid for this year's fee. Plus, there's the free night. However, it's been many months since I had any good offers on the card. I may have to rethink keeping this card next year.

 

[trenty]

One of DH's oldest cards is about to be closed due to inactivity. Will he take a big hit to his credit scoreif we decide not to keep it active?

 

[EACarlson]

Still 0/3 on the Amex Amazon deal - even after unlinking and relinking

I got it to work with my Gold card but then was disappointed by the restrictions. Have to use that card to make the rest of the purchase, only on Amazon sold products. I was better off spending the extra money and putting it towards the SUB on my Delta.

 

[EACarlson]

One of DH's oldest cards is about to be closed due to inactivity. Will he take a big hit to his credit scoreif we decide not to keep it active?

No, unless it is a large credit line that is helping utilization or you don't have at least three other credit cards open. The account will show on his report for approximately ten more years.

 

[alryan]

The last time we were at DL was 1993! I was pregnant and hormonal and for some reason DD has never wanted to return. LOL Even though it's only a 2.5 hour flight he would rather fly all the way across the country to go to WDW. I think he prefers the open space and variety there. I am really mad at the mouse for his money grubbing ways and don't want to plan any more trips with him, so this quick 3 day trip after our cruise is kind of a compromise between us.

I am also not into planning the trip. We are older now and just want to go with the flow, so expert opinions are welcome here. Do you think we can see and do most everything If we have 3 1/2 days with Max Pass, Hopper, and no real plan? We aren't into the big crazy coaster rides any more, want to see TSL, SWGE, and California Adventure plus just soak in the ambiance. My biggest question is do you think I am crazy for not making a plan? (Sad MSEP won't still be there!)

No, not crazy for not making a plan. I think that's one of the great things about Disneyland is not having to schedule everything. Obviously the crowd situation is an unknown with SWGE in August, but even so you can always get a lot done by getting there at rope drop, especially with an 8 o'clock opening. We were just there in May and rode our favorites multiple times. I know everyone talks about how they love Maxpass, but I decided to wait and see how it was and we were fine without it. And, there is no Toy Story Land. There is still Toy Story Mania and a new Jessie Carousel though.

 

[spacerangerqueen]

Neither of us are big water park people. That’s why we didn’t put them on our APs. It was a lot of fun but we wouldn’t do it more than once a year. Our local water park in Iowa had more thrilling rides than typhoon lagoon but the wave pool at typhoon lagoon is awesome!

I'm not a water park person either, although I do have passes to Aquatica. I'm not a fan of thrill slides so I enjoyed the fun tubes in the lazy river and hung out with DS in the almost deserted kids area a lot.

 

[WVMomof3]

Completely and 100% off topic but I just got my first set of progressive glasses and while I can use them for my phone/reading and general/distance, I canNOT focus on the computer with them at all! Considering what I do for a living... that's a problem. I've only had them 24 hours but I can focus on other stuff... just not the computer. Seems odd (and frustrating) to me.

I just got my first progressives a month ago. Haven’t noticed any computer issues, but I still take them off to see phone. I thought it was just habit, but a month in you would think I would stop. I really don’t think they were worth the extra $$.

 

[miztressuz]

I got it to work with my Gold card but then was disappointed by the restrictions. Have to use that card to make the rest of the purchase, only on Amazon sold products. I was better off spending the extra money and putting it towards the SUB on my Delta.

I'm pretty sure people were able to use their Amazon balance to pay. Buy Amazon GC/balance reload with Delta? As for Amazon sold products I think most are buying 3rd party GCs which are sold by Amazon.
https://www.doctorofcredit.com/how-to-use-an-amazon-gift-card-with-a-shop-with-points-order/