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

[Haley R]

Does anyone have T-Mobile? Wondering if they are any good.

We have T-Mobile and they've been okay. We had I-Wireless, but they changed to T-Mobile. We get free international data in most places even though sometimes it's only 2G. We get barely any signal in our own house so we had to get a signal booster. They sent it to us for free, though. Our whole town has hardly any signal. We also struggled for signal in Iowa when we lived there so I'm not sure what's going on

 

[tink1970]

@Haley R - welcome back! How was your cruise?

 

[Haley R]

Does Amazon claw back $1 digital slow shipping credits if you return the item that gave you the credit? I usually try only to do this for things Im pretty sure I will keep but a couple of things didnt really work out so I did a return today.

Also, I cant get a "return to Kohl's" option to show up. Its NBD as Ive been able to return via UPS, in fact that's closer, but I was wondering what happened to this. Ive returned I think 5 things no and havent been given that option once. Did it fail already?



I dont know. I had something that just never arrived. About a week after its initial due date Amazon gave me the refund option. In my history it is still showing a late but on its way...six weeks later.

We've actually had this happen quite a few times. Dh said he uses their chat and tells them the package is late. He then says he would like the $5 credit since it was Prime. We've gotten the $5 on quite a few things that have been late even if it was only one day late.

 

[Haley R]

@Haley R - welcome back! How was your cruise?

Thank you! I just finished reading through all 50 pages that I had missed lol. It doesn't seem like I missed too much. I checked our Amex accounts and they look fine.

I LOVED the cruise!!! Dh isn't sure he's completely sold on doing cruises, but I do think he enjoyed himself. I'm planning on writing a trip report with as much as I can remember, but I'll give a quick overview of our trip:

-Weather was amazing the entire time. The only slight bad weather was last night coming back to the port. It was pretty rough and I was awake from 4-5:30 am because it bothered me.
-We were worried about the Disney cost compared to other companies, but felt the entertainment and atmosphere more than made up for that extra cost. We do think we will try another cruise line in the future, though.
-We aren't beach people so the Caribbean probably wasn't the best itinerary for us. We had an okay time at the ports (St. Thomas and Tortola), but I personally had more fun on the ship than at those ports.
-The adult only pool was pretty packed every day so we weren't able to get a chair to sit in until our Castaway Cay day because we came back to the ship early.
-We got put with 2 other couples around our age for dinner and they were so much fun! I loved having people to see every night. We even went to The Tube almost every night with one of the couples and the other couple we went to a movie with and hung with them at Castaway Cay.
-The ship was spotless and the service was amazing. That's what you expect from Disney. I loved getting towel animals every night in our stateroom with the chocolates.
-I'm a picky eater, but they were always very willing to work with me at dinner. Sometimes I just ordered a plain salad or had things on the side of my entree. Dh said the food was his favorite part. He was in heaven and ordered more than one appetizer, entree, or dessert a lot.
-Now this is where the extra $$$ makes sense: the entertainment! The Aladdin and Frozen musicals were FANTASTIC! We also loved the other acts they had and sometimes even watched them twice: once in the theater and another time in the adult only venue.

The only issue we had was both our bathrooms flooded. We had gotten a note the day before saying they would come in our room to do routine maintenance (this was before the bathrooms flooded so I'm thinking they messed something up). The next morning Dh took a shower and water had filled both bathroom floors from the drains and our sinks wouldn't drain. We went to guest services and they had it fixed by the time we got back from the port that day. We didn't ask for any compensation or anything because they fixed it so quickly, but I wasn't able to use the toilet or take a shower that morning so it was an inconvenience for sure.

We are already talking about going to Norway/Scotland when our baby is 1 or shortly after. I'm leaning more towards a cruise and Dh thinks he'd rather fly and stay. We really won't know what's best until the baby is born. I've also started talking to my parents about possibly going with and my dad seems really interested and said he could be our nanny lol.

Now to credit cards.......I'm almost done with my CIP. I think I have like $500 to go. We got Dh's CIC in the mail and plan to use that. I think we'll be doing some MS with the Staples VGC deal. Our monthly limit on his CIC is $3,000 so can't do too much in one month. On average, how often are some of you going and getting VGCs? I'm wondering if it's an every day type of thing and also wondering how much I should do with Serve each time I go to Walmart.

 

[Alexle2007]

Thank you! I just finished reading through all 50 pages that I had missed lol. It doesn't seem like I missed too much. I checked our Amex accounts and they look fine.

I LOVED the cruise!!! Dh isn't sure he's completely sold on doing cruises, but I do think he enjoyed himself. I'm planning on writing a trip report with as much as I can remember, but I'll give a quick overview of our trip:

-Weather was amazing the entire time. The only slight bad weather was last night coming back to the port. It was pretty rough and I was awake from 4-5:30 am because it bothered me.
-We were worried about the Disney cost compared to other companies, but felt the entertainment and atmosphere more than made up for that extra cost. We do think we will try another cruise line in the future, though.
-We aren't beach people so the Caribbean probably wasn't the best itinerary for us. We had an okay time at the ports (St. Thomas and Tortola), but I personally had more fun on the ship than at those ports.
-The adult only pool was pretty packed every day so we weren't able to get a chair to sit in until our Castaway Cay day because we came back to the ship early.
-We got put with 2 other couples around our age for dinner and they were so much fun! I loved having people to see every night. We even went to The Tube almost every night with one of the couples and the other couple we went to a movie with and hung with them at Castaway Cay.
-The ship was spotless and the service was amazing. That's what you expect from Disney. I loved getting towel animals every night in our stateroom with the chocolates.
-I'm a picky eater, but they were always very willing to work with me at dinner. Sometimes I just ordered a plain salad or had things on the side of my entree. Dh said the food was his favorite part. He was in heaven and ordered more than one appetizer, entree, or dessert a lot.
-Now this is where the extra $$$ makes sense: the entertainment! The Aladdin and Frozen musicals were FANTASTIC! We also loved the other acts they had and sometimes even watched them twice: once in the theater and another time in the adult only venue.

The only issue we had was both our bathrooms flooded. We had gotten a note the day before saying they would come in our room to do routine maintenance (this was before the bathrooms flooded so I'm thinking they messed something up). The next morning Dh took a shower and water had filled both bathroom floors from the drains and our sinks wouldn't drain. We went to guest services and they had it fixed by the time we got back from the port that day. We didn't ask for any compensation or anything because they fixed it so quickly, but I wasn't able to use the toilet or take a shower that morning so it was an inconvenience for sure.

We are already talking about going to Norway/Scotland when our baby is 1 or shortly after. I'm leaning more towards a cruise and Dh thinks he'd rather fly and stay. We really won't know what's best until the baby is born. I've also started talking to my parents about possibly going with and my dad seems really interested and said he could be our nanny lol.

Now to credit cards.......I'm almost done with my CIP. I think I have like $500 to go. We got Dh's CIC in the mail and plan to use that. I think we'll be doing some MS with the Staples VGC deal. Our monthly limit on his CIC is $3,000 so can't do too much in one month. On average, how often are some of you going and getting VGCs? I'm wondering if it's an every day type of thing and also wondering how much I should do with Serve each time I go to Walmart.

So glad you enjoyed the cruise! They are very different vacation than doing WDW.

For CIC, if he has other biz cards, you can always transfer some of their CL to the CIC. I did to make it easier to purchase more at Staples without having to pay off of the balance. You can do it via SM. Just say you would like to transfer $x from card # 1234 to card #5678. It’s quick and painless.

 

[Alexle2007]

It’s sad to say but I have already completed my Hilton Aspire MSR. Now to work on my Plat retention MSR.

 

[Haley R]

So glad you enjoyed the cruise! They are very different vacation than doing WDW.

For CIC, if he has other biz cards, you can always transfer some of their CL to the CIC. I did to make it easier to purchase more at Staples without having to pay off of the balance. You can do it via SM. Just say you would like to transfer $x from card # 1234 to card #5678. It’s quick and painless.

The cruise is definitely different than being at WDW. Overall, I think the families seemed to be having more fun on the cruise compared to what I’ve seen at wdw. There were so many activities on the ship that we had to pick and choose what to do.

Oh awesome we might do that then! I’m not sure if we’ll end up raising the CL or not.

 

[speedyfishy]

Our monthly limit on his CIC is $3,000 so can't do too much in one month. On average, how often are some of you going and getting VGCs? I'm wondering if it's an every day type of thing and also wondering how much I should do with Serve each time I go to Walmart.

staples is limiting me to one card avisit so I’m stuck going a lot lol I used to be able to get 2k a trip. at Walmart I do either 2/3 loads at the garden center and then 2/3 loads at the regular register.

 

[Haley R]

staples is limiting me to one card avisit so I’m stuck going a lot lol I used to be able to get 2k a trip. at Walmart I do either 2/3 loads at the garden center and then 2/3 loads at the regular register.

Okay cool. I guess I’ll see how much they let me buy and then go from there

 

[tink1970]

The cruise is definitely different than being at WDW. Overall, I think the families seemed to be having more fun on the cruise compared to what I’ve seen at wdw. There were so many activities on the ship that we had to pick and choose what to do.

Oh awesome we might do that then! I’m not sure if we’ll end up raising the CL or not.

I find cruises much more relaxing and my family seems to have better "family time." For my parents' Golden Ann'y trip next month (wow time flies) we'll do our own thing during the day and all have dinner together-it's a nice balance. Glad you're home!

 

[IFlossU]

Finally went to use some of my Staples offers today. Got 4 $15 Starbucks gift cards for Christmas gifts and 2 $200 VGCs. Still have the $25 off $100 Amex offer I need to use.

I’ve already done $4000 in serve loads over the last two weeks and now have another $1100 to load lol.

Looks like my CIP is in the mail today too. Still need to set up my JetBlue Biz acct online and do a couple bank bonuses I’ve been meaning to sign up for but haven’t had the time to!

staples is limiting me to one card avisit so I’m stuck going a lot lol I used to be able to get 2k a trip. at Walmart I do either 2/3 loads at the garden center and then 2/3 loads at the regular register.

I posted a question in the MS section on Dischurners if anyone has a minute to answer I’d be grateful. Not really sure I’ll actually ever use Serve, but I’d like to know more about it to see if it’s something that might work for me in the future if need be.

 

[palhockeymomof2]

I posted a question in the MS section on Dischurners if anyone has a minute to answer I’d be grateful. Not really sure I’ll actually ever use Serve, but I’d like to know more about it to see if it’s something that might work for me in the future if need be.

Answered with my limited experience

 

[Haley R]

I find cruises much more relaxing and my family seems to have better "family time." For my parents' Golden Ann'y trip next month (wow time flies) we'll do our own thing during the day and all have dinner together-it's a nice balance. Glad you're home!

I know we didn’t go with family but it was nice to see the other couples at dinner. I liked having other people to talk to so it wasn’t just Dh and I the entire trip. I like meeting new people. Is it similar with other cruise lines?

 

[monkeydawn]

We've actually had this happen quite a few times. Dh said he uses their chat and tells them the package is late. He then says he would like the $5 credit since it was Prime. We've gotten the $5 on quite a few things that have been late even if it was only one day late.

Wow, Im going to have to try that. "Next day" stuff never shows up next day and sometimes that's been a problem for me.

 

[Haley R]

Wow, Im going to have to try that. "Next day" stuff never shows up next day and sometimes that's been a problem for me.

If they’re advertising it as one or two day prime shipping they will honor it. At least they have for us

 

[Alexle2007]

I know we didn’t go with family but it was nice to see the other couples at dinner. I liked having other people to talk to so it wasn’t just Dh and I the entire trip. I like meeting new people. Is it similar with other cruise lines?

I think it depends. On RCCL, we do the my time dining so there is no set dining time so then you are not seated with others. If we chose a set time then I think there would have been the opportunity to sit with others.

We always had the late seating with DCL and eating at 8 pm was not our favorite thing.

 

[Ngwira]

My CitiPremier TY points SUB posted this week, 60k TYP. Plus I have a Sears card that earns TYP and they keep offering me more points for increased spend, so an extra 30k TYP posted on that account. I now have 117k TYP, more than my goal of around 105k for DLR tix. My Sears card offer is currently 20X points on restaurants, gas and groceries so I’ll keep accruing and maybe use those points for GCs

Which DL tickets will you purchase?

 

[Haley R]

I think it depends. On RCCL, we do the my time dining so there is no set dining time so then you are not seated with others. If we chose a set time then I think there would have been the opportunity to sit with others.

We always had the late seating with DCL and eating at 8 pm was not our favorite thing.

With the baby we would most likely pick my dining if it’s an option. We had the second seating and we really liked it. We never felt rushed to get there and it was nice seeing the show before. We always went right to the tube after dinner with the other couple. We just made sure to eat lunch at 2 ish

 

[mmmears]

Thank you! I just finished reading through all 50 pages that I had missed lol. It doesn't seem like I missed too much. I checked our Amex accounts and they look fine.

I LOVED the cruise!!! Dh isn't sure he's completely sold on doing cruises, but I do think he enjoyed himself. I'm planning on writing a trip report with as much as I can remember, but I'll give a quick overview of our trip:

-Weather was amazing the entire time. The only slight bad weather was last night coming back to the port. It was pretty rough and I was awake from 4-5:30 am because it bothered me.
-We were worried about the Disney cost compared to other companies, but felt the entertainment and atmosphere more than made up for that extra cost. We do think we will try another cruise line in the future, though.
-We aren't beach people so the Caribbean probably wasn't the best itinerary for us. We had an okay time at the ports (St. Thomas and Tortola), but I personally had more fun on the ship than at those ports.
-The adult only pool was pretty packed every day so we weren't able to get a chair to sit in until our Castaway Cay day because we came back to the ship early.
-We got put with 2 other couples around our age for dinner and they were so much fun! I loved having people to see every night. We even went to The Tube almost every night with one of the couples and the other couple we went to a movie with and hung with them at Castaway Cay.
-The ship was spotless and the service was amazing. That's what you expect from Disney. I loved getting towel animals every night in our stateroom with the chocolates.
-I'm a picky eater, but they were always very willing to work with me at dinner. Sometimes I just ordered a plain salad or had things on the side of my entree. Dh said the food was his favorite part. He was in heaven and ordered more than one appetizer, entree, or dessert a lot.
-Now this is where the extra $$$ makes sense: the entertainment! The Aladdin and Frozen musicals were FANTASTIC! We also loved the other acts they had and sometimes even watched them twice: once in the theater and another time in the adult only venue.

The only issue we had was both our bathrooms flooded. We had gotten a note the day before saying they would come in our room to do routine maintenance (this was before the bathrooms flooded so I'm thinking they messed something up). The next morning Dh took a shower and water had filled both bathroom floors from the drains and our sinks wouldn't drain. We went to guest services and they had it fixed by the time we got back from the port that day. We didn't ask for any compensation or anything because they fixed it so quickly, but I wasn't able to use the toilet or take a shower that morning so it was an inconvenience for sure.

We are already talking about going to Norway/Scotland when our baby is 1 or shortly after. I'm leaning more towards a cruise and Dh thinks he'd rather fly and stay. We really won't know what's best until the baby is born. I've also started talking to my parents about possibly going with and my dad seems really interested and said he could be our nanny lol.

Now to credit cards.......I'm almost done with my CIP. I think I have like $500 to go. We got Dh's CIC in the mail and plan to use that. I think we'll be doing some MS with the Staples VGC deal. Our monthly limit on his CIC is $3,000 so can't do too much in one month. On average, how often are some of you going and getting VGCs? I'm wondering if it's an every day type of thing and also wondering how much I should do with Serve each time I go to Walmart.

Welcome home! I'm so happy that you enjoyed the cruise, and thank you for sharing your thoughts here. We've had more relaxing vacations on the ship than in the parks, for certain. And I love combining a cruise with visits to new and interesting destinations. I hope you find a Norway/Scotland one you like - honestly it's just such an amazing part of the world and worth a visit (or two).

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Which DL tickets will you purchase?

5 day hopper with MaxPass. Already used CSR TC for one, need 2 more.