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

[palhockeymomof2]

@palhockeymomof2 Did your Serve transfer post today? Still waiting for mine. On the Serve acct over the weekend it still said pending. This morning there’s nothing on Serve (not pending, not completed transaction, just nothing), and still nothing posted in the bank acct. It makes me nervous.

Yes it’s in my bank account now...and on Serve and it’s showing as a completed transfer....
How frustrating for you...hopefully since yours was a day behind mine...it will show up in the account tomorrow

 

[Limes96]

Yes it’s in my bank account now...and on Serve and it’s showing as a completed transfer....
How frustrating for you...hopefully since yours was a day behind mine...it will show up in the account tomorrow

Thanks! Hopefully it will show up somewhere soon!

 

[DisneyMandC]

I have a couple days for our trip next week where I plan to parkhop between HS and Epcot. I'm planning to start our day at HS on Monday and then have a 12:40 lunch reservation at Teppan Edo. How long would you guys say I need to give us to leave HS and take the boat to Epcot. If I'm walking out of HS at noon, do you think that's enough time? Or leave a little earlier?

 

[vanjust14]

Ugh, Bonvoyed again. I have a 35,000 free night cert attached to the Residence Inn Manhattan/Midtown East for December 14th for DD's bday. Last year her holiday dance show was the first weekend in December so I thought it would be safe to book this. The show schedule came out Saturday and of course the show is the 14th and 15th this year. I just tried to see if I could book an earlier weekend in December and they are 40,000 points now.

 

[kidsfirsttrip]

Can anyone use old navy cash? I have a $40 and a $20. It expires tomorrow.

We are back from our Universal Studios trip so it's trip redemption report time!

We checked into the Hard Rock Hotel last Sunday and spent 5 full days at Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, and Volcano Bay. We also got Blue Man Group tickets through the UR portal (awesome show!) and paid for our flights with SW RR points and our CP. DH's Amex Plat airline credit covered our upgraded boarding at $40/pp and plane drinks so we got to fly out in style. The hotel was very stylish and very convenient to the parks. Crowds were low and we had the included unlimited Express passes, so we got to ride all the rides we wanted and re-ride most of our favorites at least once and still had time to relax in the evenings or midday.

So here is our final cost breakdown for our Universal Studios trip for 2 adults -
Flight fees : ~$25
Upgraded boarding on SW: $0
Drinks on the plane: $0
3-Park 5-Day PTP tickets: $0
Blue Man Group tickets: $0
Hotel charges: $72 since I was short on UR
Airport Ubers: ~$75
Food/souvenirs/incidentals: ~$1100. I wince that we spent that much but we didn't skimp on ordering drinks/apps/'zerts and tried all the restaurants we wanted. This also includes odds and ends like the overpriced Advil we got at the hotel since DH's head hurt so much after too much sun at Volcano Bay.

Best of all is that I was able to bridge my ticket into an 3-park annual pass for just $133! DH works weekends so we figured it wouldn't make sense to upgrade his tickets too. I'm hoping to make the next trip with my friends to do HP stuff together. Maybe I will even get up the guts to go to HHN later this year or next.

So all in all, total cost for 2 people to spend 5 days/6 nights at USO, including flights, hotel, park tickets, Blue Man Group show tickets, food, transportation, souvenirs, and one annual pass = $1404. I haven't done all the math but I believe that flights/hotel/tickets alone would have cost around $2500 out of pocket, not including the annual pass.

In short, as I always say at the end of these redemption reports...this is the best hobby ever!

Awesome! What restaurants did you enjoy most?

This sucks because my 35,000 point reservations went up to 40,000 and now they won't let me apply a 35,000 point certificate to it. I have one 50,000 point certificate coming and one 35,000 point certificate but now all my Marriott bookings are 40k/night

Yes I agree. I was keeping my FN 35k cards but now I think I’ll cut them loose. There were lots of good options in Boston and NY and DLR and most of those went to 40k. I’m over Marriott

My dh and I purchased a new Kia Telluride today. We are putting down between $10-15K and financing the rest for 1.9%APR. I have a relatively new CIP that I still need to put on around $4k to get my bonus points. I asked how much I could put on a charge card (thinking she was going to say $1K or so) and she said whatever amount you want to. She said some people put over $10K on their charge card. I was shocked and never heard of this but happy that my 80K points will be appearing soon on my CIP and will put the rest of the down payment on a few other cards to get some bonus points.

Oh congrats! I love the look of that SUV and it's on my radar. Saw one while I was on vacation in NH recently. Enjoy! Awesome you could use a cc!

DH is hunting down a Hyundai Palisade very similar to the Telluride. Hopefully we can put some down towards an MSR

 

[jhoannam]

I think I'm almost ready to book my anniversary European trip next summer. My going dates are already out a d my coming back dates should be out in a couple days. Looks like there's lots of super saver availability as long as I'm willing to make connections. So DH has approximately 160k united miles and 68k URs. I have about 108k URs. I will probably need (70x4) 240k miles total. I want to transfer all his URs and then mine to make up the difference. Will that work? Even though I'm transferring into his account? How do I do that? I also have a united account with 60k points if that makes a difference. I'm very anxious about this for some reason. I guess it's my first time and I need someone to walk me through the process.

Are you trying to book RT tickets to take advantage of the Excursionist Perk? If so, I would transfer 80K UR to your united account and book RT tickets from each United account. If you aren't looking at using the excursionist perk I would use up all the United miles in each account.

Book 2 - one way tickets to Europe under your DH's account. 140K Miles - 20K remaining
Transfer 50K URs to your DH's account book 1 return flight
Transfer 10K URs to your United account book 1 return flight.

Does this help? Make sense?

 

[striker1064]

I have a couple days for our trip next week where I plan to parkhop between HS and Epcot. I'm planning to start our day at HS on Monday and then have a 12:40 lunch reservation at Teppan Edo. How long would you guys say I need to give us to leave HS and take the boat to Epcot. If I'm walking out of HS at noon, do you think that's enough time? Or leave a little earlier?

I'd probably leave a little earlier than that. If there are too many people or maybe if you just missed a boat, you might have to wait for the next one, which can take a while.

Also doesn't the boat take about 30 minutes due to the other stops? You may find you can walk it faster.

 

[AmyAnne]

My dd is performing at the 6:45 and 8:00 shows. It sounds like we need to book a package. I hate that we have to prepay for the full cost now

We have been a handful of times over the years. Maybe 15 years ago we would just wait in line but the lines have gotten crazy lately so the past few times we have done a dining package. Last time I priced it out, the dining plan saved us money on this (plus a few other TS meals). Since we have two rooms, I usually get the deluxe dining package for one room and we use the credits for the pricey TS meals.

Also, there is usually a thread or two about the CP on the dining forum.

 

[LuckyMamaInDE]

why not just buy good insoles to stick in some boots?

I'm super curious about the Rothys...I need some dressy shoes with a good insole/high arch support...The Vionics I bought are barely ok for that.... the Birkenstocks are NOT pretty enough for dressy....(not sandals) I need to look for a place to buy these so I can return for free if needed..... (and yes I also use insoles in some of my shoes but it's tough to find the right one for dress flats etc.)

My problem is not arch support. The Rothy's insoles are sufficient for me, and support my foot enough that I can walk for miles in them. The top of my foot itself (the instep) is really high, so high that it doesn't physically fit into most boots, for example.

sooooo..... how do these compare to a Birkenstock feel when walking? those are about the only shoes/boots my feet can tolerate (esp. love soft sole) without feeling like they're falling off..... I just ordered some cute rubber rain booties from Amazon which have a decent insole,and I'll add my own also for the arch.... change of seasons always has me looking for new footwear....

I haven't tried Birkenstocks in decades so I can't help with that.

The Rothy's material is super forgiving - so if the issue is that shoes squish the top of your foot, they might be a good choice. I obvioulsy havn't tried the Chelseas yet, but the other shoes aren't waterproof as much as water tolerant - my feet might get a little wet when wearing them, but the shoes dry right out and aren't stinky or warped afterwards. If the issue is needing support, Rothy's aren't a great choice, in my opinion.

Rothy's are really flexible (whch makes them great to pack), but do not offer a ton of support. You can put an extra one of their insoles in to make them a little more cushy, or you could probably add insoles of your own (I feel your pain about getting insoles to fit right, though). I love my Rothy's, and they work well for me for work, or as a second pair of shoes for part of the day, but I don't think I could wear them for an entire day with lots of walking without my feel suffering some.

Yeah, the top of my foot gets squished by so many shoes and boots. Regular leather loafers are impossible to wear. I was afraid that the Rothy Sneakers wouldn't fit, but they do after I pull them on because they are so flexible. It looks like their Chelsea model has the same angle so I am very hopeful.

 

[LuckyMamaInDE]

I'd probably leave a little earlier than that. If there are too many people or maybe if you just missed a boat, you might have to wait for the next one, which can take a while.

Also doesn't the boat take about 30 minutes due to the other stops? You may find you can walk it faster.

I would definitely walk between the two parks. We're done it in 20 minutes in the heat of August.

 

[DisneyMandC]

I'd probably leave a little earlier than that. If there are too many people or maybe if you just missed a boat, you might have to wait for the next one, which can take a while.

Also doesn't the boat take about 30 minutes due to the other stops? You may find you can walk it faster.

You might be right. It's honestly been so long since I've taken the boat between parks that I can't remember. I don't think I've ever walked it before.

 

[wendow]

I have a couple days for our trip next week where I plan to parkhop between HS and Epcot. I'm planning to start our day at HS on Monday and then have a 12:40 lunch reservation at Teppan Edo. How long would you guys say I need to give us to leave HS and take the boat to Epcot. If I'm walking out of HS at noon, do you think that's enough time? Or leave a little earlier?

I’d leave earlier. If you just miss the boat, you could wait another 15 mins easily. The boat ride is 20 mins and then the security and ticketing would be another 10 at least. Then you still have to walk to Japan. I think leave at 11:45.

 

[vanjust14]

DH is hunting down a Hyundai Palisade very similar to the Telluride. Hopefully we can put some down towards an MSR

Yes, DH likes this one too! I'm actually looking into both the Palisade and the Telluride. I'll be ready soon. Looks like they are hard to come across so I'm starting now.

 

[wendow]

You might be right. It's honestly been so long since I've taken the boat between parks that I can't remember. I don't think I've ever walked it before.

Walking is very doable and faster than the boat but I know you’ve got your dh’s parents along and they may appreciate the boat ride.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

I have a couple days for our trip next week where I plan to parkhop between HS and Epcot. I'm planning to start our day at HS on Monday and then have a 12:40 lunch reservation at Teppan Edo. How long would you guys say I need to give us to leave HS and take the boat to Epcot. If I'm walking out of HS at noon, do you think that's enough time? Or leave a little earlier?

Just to chime in: That is a very enjoyable walk...when it's 75 degrees with a light cloud cover. Possibly even more enjoyable in February in a hooded sweatshirt...

BUT At noon with the sun directly over head and temps approaching 90 I'd probably budget some extra time and enjoy a leisurely boat ride. There's probably already enough salt in the food at Teppan Edo that I wouldn't want to add more from the sweat beads dripping off my face, LOL!

I'd agree with @wendow that 11:45 is when I'd leave. Possibly even slightly earlier - I like to avoid all "time" stress on vacation and not be in a rush. You can always kill 20 minutes in Epcot in a few countries or check-in early for lunch.

EDIT: I should also add, that if walking in the heat is your thing though, who am I to judge I'm sure some people could enjoy that sort of thing.

 

[havaneselover]

Ugh, Bonvoyed again. I have a 35,000 free night cert attached to the Residence Inn Manhattan/Midtown East for December 14th for DD's bday. Last year her holiday dance show was the first weekend in December so I thought it would be safe to book this. The show schedule came out Saturday and of course the show is the 14th and 15th this year. I just tried to see if I could book an earlier weekend in December and they are 40,000 points now.

I'm staying there 11/29-11/30. I have 50,000 point certificate coming from Lux. I prepaid with points (70,000) so I'm thinking I'll use my certificate and get 30,000 points back instead of 35,000.

I probably will now cancel SPG Biz when it comes up for renewal. They really should make the certificates for a certain category peak or off peak. I know I'm preaching to the choir but this is pretty asinine.

 

[DisneyMandC]

Thanks for the feedback, all! I was able to push our Teppan Edo ADR back to 1 so I figure if I leave at noon that will give us a solid hour to get there. I don't really like splitting my HS/Epcot day like that, but I just have no desire to eat anywhere at HS... not even quick service. And my mom and BIL both requested Teppan Edo during this trip lol. I don't particularly find it to be any better than your standard Japanese hibachi restaurant, but whatever. We're leaving HS to go to Ale & Compass for dinner on our other HS day haha.

 

[AmyAnne]

Thanks for the feedback, all! I was able to push our Teppan Edo ADR back to 1 so I figure if I leave at noon that will give us a solid hour to get there. I don't really like splitting my HS/Epcot day like that, but I just have no desire to eat anywhere at HS... not even quick service. And my mom and BIL both requested Teppan Edo during this trip lol. I don't particularly find it to be any better than your standard Japanese hibachi restaurant, but whatever. We're leaving HS to go to Ale & Compass for dinner on our other HS day haha.

Just curious--are you then going back to HS after lunch?

We have never park-hopped because things like this would just stress me out too much, and make me feel like we are spending too much time going back and forth between the parks. But we have almost always gone during peak crowd season.

 

[Lain]

I think I'm almost ready to book my anniversary European trip next summer. My going dates are already out a d my coming back dates should be out in a couple days. Looks like there's lots of super saver availability as long as I'm willing to make connections. So DH has approximately 160k united miles and 68k URs. I have about 108k URs. I will probably need (70x4) 240k 280k miles total. I want to transfer all his URs and then mine to make up the difference. Will that work? Even though I'm transferring into his account? How do I do that? I also have a united account with 60k points if that makes a difference. I'm very anxious about this for some reason. I guess it's my first time and I need someone to walk me through the process.

You can transfer DH’s 68k UR to his United MileagePlus account at 1:1 in 1,000 point increments. That’ll get him to 228k UA miles.

You can’t transfer your URs to DH’s United MileagePlus account directly unless he is an AU on the CIP/CSP/CSR from which you are transferring your UR. The workaround to this is to transfer your URs > DH’s UR account > DH’s United MileagePlus account, since once your URs are on DH’s CIP/CSP/CSR, DH can transfer those URs to his MileagePlus account.

However, since you mentioned you have 60k UA miles in your own account, and you need 4x70k tickets, assuming one of them is yours, you could transfer 10k UR from your stash directly into your United MileagePlus account to get you to 70k UA miles, which you’d use to book one of your own award ticket on a separate itinerary.

You could then transfer the balance of your remaining 98k UR (or however much you need) to DH’s UR account, then DH transfers them to his United MileagePlus account, as discussed above.

Since DH already has 228k UA miles from his existing 160k UA miles plus the 68k UR transferred to UA, you only need to transfer 52k UR to him to get to 280k UA miles. But because you transferred 10k UR to your own United MileagePlus account to get to 70k for 1 ticket, presumably DH’s account only needs 3x70k, or 210k UA miles for the remaining 3 tickets. If you transferred all of DH’s 68k URs to UA, that would put DH’s account at 228k UA miles, which is more than you need.

So TL;DR:

- Transfer 10k of your UR to your UA account, which will take you to 70k UA miles and enough for 1 saver award ticket.

- Transfer 50k of DH’s UR to DH’s UA account, which will get him to 210 UA miles and enough for the remaining 3 saver award tickets.

- Unless you need DH’s remaining 18k UR or your remaining 98k UR locked into UA miles, you don’t need to transfer them.

And good luck!

 

[vanjust14]

I'm staying there 11/29-11/30. I have 50,000 point certificate coming from Lux. I prepaid with points (70,000) so I'm thinking I'll use my certificate and get 30,000 points back instead of 35,000.

I probably will now cancel SPG Biz when it comes up for renewal. They really should make the certificates for a certain category peak or off peak. I know I'm preaching to the choir but this is pretty asinine.

Agreed! This is just ridiculous. I will probably cancel come renewal too...I'm really getting fed up.