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

[*WDW*Groupie*]

What is the best price available for Disney+? I wish I had jumped on the D23 deal -- dd says all of her friends have this and I want it too. I will have to get a new television for the den so that I can watch it, but I see a nice 4K Samsung unit on sale at BJ's that has great reviews. Also have to factor in an installer because there's no way I would attempt to remove the one we have and install a new one!

 

[trenty]

I posted this on another thread and did not get any replies. Thought maybe someone here can help -

I am looking to buy at least $75-100 in "Happy" gift cards. What is the best deal currently?

 

[CyndiLouWho]

What is the best price available for Disney+? I wish I had jumped on the D23 deal -- dd says all of her friends have this and I want it too. I will have to get a new television for the den so that I can watch it, but I see a nice 4K Samsung unit on sale at BJ's that has great reviews. Also have to factor in an installer because there's no way I would attempt to remove the one we have and install a new one!

I’m not sure if it’s the best deal, but Rakuten has $10 off. If you open a new Rakuten account with a referral there’s another $10. Plus if you already have a Rakuten account and refer your spouse you get a $25 referral bonus.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

I posted this on another thread and did not get any replies. Thought maybe someone here can help -

I am looking to buy at least $75-100 in "Happy" gift cards. What is the best deal currently?

Albertsons, see @Lain post above.
Alternatively I had an Amex offer for $15 off $100 Happy cards, but that was a while ago.

 

[nickle831]

Sigh. Feel like I've been Bonvoyed. Last night I booked the Sheraton Grand Seattle on points advance. It was 35k points. I want to use my Bonvoy Biz free night (when I get it in April). Today I see it's gone up to 40k.

Back to the drawing board....

Same thing happened to us but with Copenhagen. It was 50K when we booked, which would work for our one free night whenever that shows up, but now it's either 55 or 60K (sorry I can't remember which). #Bonvoyed

Yep that happened to me too. Also for the Sheraton Grand Seattle. I haven't called in yet, but they are supposed to give you 5000 points to make up the difference for the points advanced reservation but it's my understanding they aren't doing anything to accommodate the free night cert which I was going to use for our second night there.
@wanderlust7 which dates are you sailing? we are leaving June 19th.

 

[Tinkerbell19672]

Does anyone know the cost of DGC on Sams site? I have the AMEX off of $25 off $45 membership and wondering if worth it to sign up

 

[wanderlust7]

Thanks, I thought that might be the case when the cheapest room had a fireplace. I'm new to these free nights. I see when I booked out as far as they can go there still wasn't standard rooms available.

Same here when I was looking at the Conrad Bora Bora. I used the flexible dates and just kept going back a week. Did see some availability, but could find no logic to it. Once I have the free nights, might do some serious stalking. It'll be hard to fit into existing plans, but if I catch something, guess I'd feel like I *need* to go, lol.

Anyone know if Hilton will let you replace a points booking with a free night certificate and refund the points?

 

[AmyAnne]

I wouldn't cancel. I would do the four and have 3 do the standby line, but in order to get the standby seat, you need to be in line early. Then I would chat up the CM about your daughter and the 3 in standby. Which restaurant did you get? Try to find a corresponding 'regular' reservation for the other 3 and show up together - sometimes you may get lucky and at the least you might eat near each other. When I went they gave us a big tag to wear to identify us at the show.

My experience with this type of reservation is they save a certain number of rows up front for the reservations - maybe 3-4 and they keep them open until show starts. Also, I've seen Gary Sinese, Whoopi and a few others and the CP is a very moving experience. I wouldn't give up the opportunity to have 4 people up front, especially with your daughter as part of it. And I'd probably get seats for the adults and have the 3 kids wait it out in line. You will want to snap a few pics of your daughter and those up front seats will be best.

I agree with keeping the four reserved seats. We have been 4-5 times over the past 20 years and the lines just get crazier each time. Last year we got in the reserved seating line about 45 minutes before show time (we always do the first show) and our seats were about 2/3 of the way up the stadium.

You might already know this but the "seats" are actually benches so if the four with reserved seats sit a bit apart from each other I suspect you could save enough space for your kids to squeeze in.

 

[hsmamato2]

Yes. You generally need to call Chase directly to book a cruise using UR points rather than booking on the portal. I like it because then they can also apply my loyalty number for Royal Caribbean and get me the suite discounts, etc.

But what we often do is book our next cruise while we are on our current cruise. Then I call Chase within 30 days and have them transfer my booking over to them. This lets me take advantage of the lower cruise deposit for booking with RCI onboard. And then I can pay the entire cruise balance with UR points. Though I usually wait until closer to the final payment date in case the cruise fare drops. If so, then I call Chase and have them adjust the fare price to the lower cost.

Ok...so I'm seriously considering a cruise I found for next winter,RCCL. I would like to use a combo of CSR TC or UR to pay for this.... SHould I just call in to book,using the price I'm quoted directly from the RCCL site itself? Or do the UR reps find the dates etc and quote a price? I see two discounts applied to my choices,will the UR reps apply those also,or should I expect a different number? And... say the total is $2000 (it's not) what would the UR cost be? And..... could I call in, book, use TC + UR for deposit amount? Combine them,I mean? (I'm also considering the option of using ALL UR for this,and using the TC for something else. Thank you cruise experts! (it seems according to RCCL website that they have a pretty good cancel policy, up to about 2 months before with no penalty? Can that be right?)

 

[LuckyMamaInDE]

Had two new (to me) Amex offers: 10% off department stores up to $20 and 10% of home improvement stores up to $20.

Nothing good for me, alas

I wouldn't cancel. I would do the four and have 3 do the standby line, but in order to get the standby seat, you need to be in line early. Then I would chat up the CM about your daughter and the 3 in standby. Which restaurant did you get? Try to find a corresponding 'regular' reservation for the other 3 and show up together - sometimes you may get lucky and at the least you might eat near each other. When I went they gave us a big tag to wear to identify us at the show.

My experience with this type of reservation is they save a certain number of rows up front for the reservations - maybe 3-4 and they keep them open until show starts. Also, I've seen Gary Sinese, Whoopi and a few others and the CP is a very moving experience. I wouldn't give up the opportunity to have 4 people up front, especially with your daughter as part of it. And I'd probably get seats for the adults and have the 3 kids wait it out in line. You will want to snap a few pics of your daughter and those up front seats will be best.

I agree with Judique not to cancel the four.

I have found return saver flights home from SYD in United Biz. Yay! Now I just to decide, do we Stop in DEN or HOU on our way home? The DEN flight gets in an hour earlier and has 2 1/2 hours to get us through customs (flight arrives at 6 am so hopefully it wouldn’t be too crazy.) It’s in late Aug so hopefully no weather concerns. Thoughts?

Hurricanes were a major concern for me when looking for flights to and from Europe during peak hurricane season. We're flying out Aug 25 and returning Sept 9. Our connecting cities are Chicago and Philidelphia. We were on an Alaska cruise first week of September in 2017. There were a lot of Floridians on the cruise who spent the week worried about getting home due to Irma. I believe Harvey hit Houston a few weeks earlier. Given the choice I'd pick Denver.

@wendow I am so torn here. We would have a long layover at both of them and IAH has the Centurion Lounge where I could make use of my Plat. I know one is coming to DEN. What are rumors as to when it will open? We will have just taken a very long flight so I want somewhere comfy to wait until we fly home.

My DD had 2 hours and 20 min after her Sydney flight in SFO and she said she barely had time to use the bathroom. But do you guys have global entry? That might help.

Depending on delays and customs, etc, you might not have long to wait. Personally I’d go for the safer airport weather wise. 2 1/2 hours is not that long after an international flight IMO.

@Alexle2007 I would go through DEN. As you know, we are going through IAH on the return, in late September. If I had an equally good option like you do, I would not have chosen IAH. I am worried about weather, BUT it's on the way home and dh can always work remotely if we are delayed. I chose trip insurance that has the in-case-of-weather-cancellations/closures-we'll-get-you-home-in-the-class-you-booked clause in case I have to do something tricky like @calypso726 did on their return from Japan.

We'll have 3.5 hours in IAH so I'm hoping we'll be able to get to the Centurion Lounge before the last 3.5 hour flight in peasant seats lol

 

[Lain]

There is a new Residence Inn on Oahu. It is listed as Cat 5 30,000 points. I think it might sleep 6 and has kitchen area. I couldn’t pull it up on points for close dates but I was able to find it for next fall.

Are you talking about the new one in Kapolei?

Cat 5 is 35k standard, 30k off peak, and 40k peak.

Kapolei is a bit far (by island standards) from Honolulu and Waikiki, but a very close drive to Aulani and the Ko Olina resort area, and not a bad drive to the H-2 and H-3 freeways that’ll take you into central and windward Oahu. Kapolei itself is a growing city but a bit flat and spaced out; there’s a Target, Costco, shopping and dining, as well as a ticketed water park nearby. It’s not a bad location if you’re just using it as a base to explore the island, but it’s not really near any beach if that’s important for your Hawaiian vacation.

 

[Jax1023]

What is the best price available for Disney+? I wish I had jumped on the D23 deal -- dd says all of her friends have this and I want it too. I will have to get a new television for the den so that I can watch it, but I see a nice 4K Samsung unit on sale at BJ's that has great reviews. Also have to factor in an installer because there's no way I would attempt to remove the one we have and install a new one!

If you have any sort of Verizon unlimited cell phone plan you can get a year for free.

also you don’t need a whole new tv unless you want one lol. A roku or amazon firestick will let you stream for less than 20 bucks.

 

[Lain]

I posted this on another thread and did not get any replies. Thought maybe someone here can help -

I am looking to buy at least $75-100 in "Happy" gift cards. What is the best deal currently?

Check the DISchurners news thread using your browser to search for “Happy”. There are at least two grocery store deals going on right now, and OD/OM will have some during Black Friday week.

 

[wanderlust7]

Yep that happened to me too. Also for the Sheraton Grand Seattle. I haven't called in yet, but they are supposed to give you 5000 points to make up the difference for the points advanced reservation but it's my understanding they aren't doing anything to accommodate the free night cert which I was going to use for our second night there.
@wanderlust7 which dates are you sailing? we are leaving June 19th.

We're going 2 weeks before you. Also on the Ovation.

Did you make the points advance reservation before they went to this off/standard/peak chart? That locks you in (somewhat). Since I did this recently, there's a disclaimer now that points may change until you've applied the points. Think I'm going to use the free nights for a long weekend nearby instead. For the Seattle stay, looking at the Hyatts now with UR transferred over. The Hyatt Olive 8 looks nice. A little further from Pike Market than the Sheraton though. Was thinking Hilton free nights until I remembered weekends only!

 

[Lain]

What is the best price available for Disney+? I wish I had jumped on the D23 deal -- dd says all of her friends have this and I want it too. I will have to get a new television for the den so that I can watch it, but I see a nice 4K Samsung unit on sale at BJ's that has great reviews. Also have to factor in an installer because there's no way I would attempt to remove the one we have and install a new one!

Do you have Verizon? They’re offering a free year to wireless customers.

 

[Lain]

Costco .com is selling $200 (4x$50) Lyft eVouchers for $169.99, which I believe can also be used on Minnie Vans.

 

[wendow]

@wendow I am so torn here. We would have a long layover at both of them and IAH has the Centurion Lounge where I could make use of my Plat. I know one is coming to DEN. What are rumors as to when it will open? We will have just taken a very long flight so I want somewhere comfy to wait until we fly home.

It could be open by then but it was supposed to already be open by now so I just don’t know. We’ve not heard anything more than it’s now supposed to open in 2020.

 

[wendow]

You might already know this but the "seats" are actually benches so if the four with reserved seats sit a bit apart from each other I suspect you could save enough space for your kids to squeeze in.

I didn’t know that! Would the kids, without the guaranteed seat tag, be able to join us or are the CM’s ‘policing’ who can go down a row?

 

[wanderlust7]

Ok...so I'm seriously considering a cruise I found for next winter,RCCL. I would like to use a combo of CSR TC or UR to pay for this.... SHould I just call in to book,using the price I'm quoted directly from the RCCL site itself? Or do the UR reps find the dates etc and quote a price? I see two discounts applied to my choices,will the UR reps apply those also,or should I expect a different number? And... say the total is $2000 (it's not) what would the UR cost be? And..... could I call in, book, use TC + UR for deposit amount? Combine them,I mean? (I'm also considering the option of using ALL UR for this,and using the TC for something else. Thank you cruise experts! (it seems according to RCCL website that they have a pretty good cancel policy, up to about 2 months before with no penalty? Can that be right?)

I think online RCCL only shows you the nonrefundable deposit rates. You can probably get a refundable deposit rate if you call, but it'll likely be hundreds more. If you have a refundable deposit rate, it'll be fully refundable up until paid in full date (usually 3-4 months before sail date).

To use the travel credit, others have reported booking direct with the cruise line so the deposit uses up the travel credit. Then transfer it to Chase to use URs at 1.5x with CSR. A $2000 cruise would cost you 133,333 URs.

 

[brownhaired_girl]

Are you talking about the new one in Kapolei?

Cat 5 is 35k standard, 30k off peak, and 40k peak.

Kapolei is a bit far (by island standards) from Honolulu and Waikiki, but a very close drive to Aulani and the Ko Olina resort area, and not a bad drive to the H-2 and H-3 freeways that’ll take you into central and windward Oahu. Kapolei itself is a growing city but a bit flat and spaced out; there’s a Target, Costco, shopping and dining, as well as a ticketed water park nearby. It’s not a bad location if you’re just using it as a base to explore the island, but it’s not really near any beach if that’s important for your Hawaiian vacation.

Yes, it is the one in Kapolei. I was going to use a couple FN certs for some of our group while others used the Marriott Ko Olina studio as a base. Then a second Ko Olina studio opened up and I cancelled the hotel. We now have a 2BR for our first week and 2 studios for the second week. I still have one trade left on one of those studios and am hoping to upgrade to a 1BR but not holding my breath.