I love credit cards so much! v3.0 (see first page for add'l details)

[havaneselover]

The way I've always read it is it's for anyone renewing. As it started yesterday now's the time to look for dps. I don't know if it's all flavors of the plat, I think all the info that's known is in that post.

I thought I read a comment on DoC that one poster was told they weren’t eligible because they got a retention offer but the poster’s wife got it and she got a retention offer.

 

[havaneselover]

Question for divorced parents who’ve been through college financial aid—want to make sure I understand this. Some schools use FAFSA and others use CSS. FAFSA is only based on custodial parent’s income (that’s me). CSS is based on either custodial parent or both depending on the school. Do I have that right?

We have dd’s tuition and room & board covered if she stays in state but if she doesn’t get into UVA she may go out of state so I’m just trying to understand our options. Looks like UVa is the only school we are looking at using CSS that looks at both parents’ incomes. I think she’d like NC Stats better than VA Tech (and I’d much rather have her in Raleigh) so I want to figure out if we could swing it. I believe they use FAFSA.

 

[afan]

I thought I read a comment on DoC that one poster was told they weren’t eligible because they got a retention offer but the poster’s wife got it and she got a retention offer.

I haven't seen anything but haven't been looking since it didn't apply to me. And since most that got detentions had that credit mentioned because it's in their dp about the retention I'd tend to think there's another reason. It just started yesterday so I'd wait to see if there's more. For all we know the tracker isn't rolling out like it should or something. To me one dp that says it is an outlier until more come in.

 

[georgina]

I just had a crazy thought: fly down to Orlando just to convert our 3 day Universal Studios tickets to annual passes before the 15 month promotion ends. Or is that just crazy? Or do converted ticket not qualify for the 3 month extension?

It worked for us a couple of years ago, getting the 15 months, and there are a few reports of people recently getting the extra months on the Uni boards here, also someone said they didn't get it on upgrade but had CS add the 3 months on later. (Personally I do think it is crazy to fly down just for that!)

 

[ctinct]

Question for divorced parents who’ve been through college financial aid—want to make sure I understand this. Some schools use FAFSA and others use CSS. FAFSA is only based on custodial parent’s income (that’s me). CSS is based on either custodial parent or both depending on the school. Do I have that right?

We have dd’s tuition and room & board covered if she stays in state but if she doesn’t get into UVA she may go out of state so I’m just trying to understand our options. Looks like UVa is the only school we are looking at using CSS that looks at both parents’ incomes. I think she’d like NC Stats better than VA Tech (and I’d much rather have her in Raleigh) so I want to figure out if we could swing it. I believe they use FAFSA.

Yep, that’s pretty much it. I think you’ll find that it’s mostly private colleges that require the CSS; I’m kind of surprised that UVA does. We also found that most colleges that required the CSS wanted info on both parents, not just one. The CSS digs down way more into finances, also. My daughter was unable to apply for aid (and thus didn’t apply to a few schools she liked) because my ex was NOT going to cooperate. There are ( or were, when we were looking) some well regarded privates that don’t require the CSS, however.

The problem with most state schools that we saw was that they award very little money to out of state students.

I know your daughter has already looked at some schools, but I just want to mention the piece of advice I give to every parent of soon to be in college students that I come across. Look at the percent of need met each college grants. It’s a lot easier now, I think, with the net price calculators than when my daughter was looking at schools in 2010-11. (Wow, was it that long ago? )

Financial aid packages can vary wildly. We had aid offers that ranged from expecting me to contribute anywhere from $5-7000 a year to around $30000 a year. In the end, my daughter chose a private school that cost me about the same as it would have for our in state school, UCONN. And she had a full tuition scholarship to UCONN! Those fees and room and board are killer! We’ll both be forever grateful to her alma mater.

 

[Alexle2007]

Question for divorced parents who’ve been through college financial aid—want to make sure I understand this. Some schools use FAFSA and others use CSS. FAFSA is only based on custodial parent’s income (that’s me). CSS is based on either custodial parent or both depending on the school. Do I have that right?

We have dd’s tuition and room & board covered if she stays in state but if she doesn’t get into UVA she may go out of state so I’m just trying to understand our options. Looks like UVa is the only school we are looking at using CSS that looks at both parents’ incomes. I think she’d like NC Stats better than VA Tech (and I’d much rather have her in Raleigh) so I want to figure out if we could swing it. I believe they use FAFSA.

So now you have me thinking. Our plan is that DH will retire at the end of 2021 or early 2022 and I was planning to retire in 2024 when DS graduates. But then our income drastically changes. I am wondering if I should look into retiring earlier so we would have the lower income before it’s time to apply for financial aid.

 

[spacerangerqueen]

I just had a crazy thought: fly down to Orlando just to convert our 3 day Universal Studios tickets to annual passes before the 15 month promotion ends. Or is that just crazy? Or do converted ticket not qualify for the 3 month extension?

My step-daughter got the promo on her converted ticket last month. It wasn't mentioned at the Park when we did the upgrade, but she said she got an email a few days later saying that it was extended the extra months.

 

[georgina]

So now you have me thinking. Our plan is that DH will retire at the end of 2021 or early 2022 and I was planning to retire in 2024 when DS graduates. But then our income drastically changes. I am wondering if I should look into retiring earlier so we would have the lower income before it’s time to apply for financial aid.

Like ctinct said above, most schools don't award financial aid to meet full need. And many will say they meet need but do it with loans. There are a few places where scholarships have a need component, but I would not change your plans just to lower your income unless you have a good idea where he wants to go and have looked at that school's policies. It is likely it won't make much of a difference. If he graduates in 2024, you may be filling out forms based on 2022 income.

 

[disneybirds]

I haven't waxed poetic on any particular points or cards for a while. Today I'm loving on the Hilton points. We aren't going to be on a safari in Africa for NYE this year so the current plans are vacationing here in Florida. I decided to book 5 nights at Baker's Cay in key Largo over New Year's a few weeks ago. It was 240,000 points since we get the 5th night free. I never bothered to look at the price per night because I recall last NYE was over $1,000 for just that one night. Well I decided to take a look and see what it would cost for the 5 nights we booked in real money. The room we booked with the Hilton Honor's member discount is a whopping $6,382.58 for those 5 nights!!! That's insane if you ask me. Not that we'd ever spend that type of money on a hotel stay or anything buy getting 2.66 cpp value on HH points is also insane. So today, I love Hilton points.

This is definitely on our list since we will be empty nesters in two weeks (hopefully!). Pre-covid, DH would have conferences in Miami every now and then so this would be a great add-on trip. Hope you have a fantastic time again this year!

 

[disneybirds]

So now you have me thinking. Our plan is that DH will retire at the end of 2021 or early 2022 and I was planning to retire in 2024 when DS graduates. But then our income drastically changes. I am wondering if I should look into retiring earlier so we would have the lower income before it’s time to apply for financial aid.

We have friends that adopted a child several years ago and both parents will be retired by the time he heads to college. When I was researching college aid with our oldest, I read a book from the library that addressed this issue. It would be a dated book at this point and was very, very dry reading, but it was titled Paying for College without Going Broke. There might be another more updated book out there for retirees paying for college.

Probably the best thing to do is go to a few schools where he might be interested and play around with the net price calculator to see if it makes a difference. As @georgina said, they use income from 2 years back.

 

[havaneselover]

Yep, that’s pretty much it. I think you’ll find that it’s mostly private colleges that require the CSS; I’m kind of surprised that UVA does. We also found that most colleges that required the CSS wanted info on both parents, not just one. The CSS digs down way more into finances, also. My daughter was unable to apply for aid (and thus didn’t apply to a few schools she liked) because my ex was NOT going to cooperate. There are ( or were, when we were looking) some well regarded privates that don’t require the CSS, however.

The problem with most state schools that we saw was that they award very little money to out of state students.

I know your daughter has already looked at some schools, but I just want to mention the piece of advice I give to every parent of soon to be in college students that I come across. Look at the percent of need met each college grants. It’s a lot easier now, I think, with the net price calculators than when my daughter was looking at schools in 2010-11. (Wow, was it that long ago? )

Financial aid packages can vary wildly. We had aid offers that ranged from expecting me to contribute anywhere from $5-7000 a year to around $30000 a year. In the end, my daughter chose a private school that cost me about the same as it would have for our in state school, UCONN. And she had a full tuition scholarship to UCONN! Those fees and room and board are killer! We’ll both be forever grateful to her alma mater.

Yes--I found a nice list of colleges using CSS and whether or not they included the non-custodial parent. UVa does. GA Tech does not. We are only looking at state schools because she's looking at engineering. My ex will cooperate but if they include his income (and his wife's?) she wouldn't get any aid (which is fine in state).

I was looking at NC State's Net Price Calculator--that's why I think it's probably doable. She'll apply early to UVA so this may all be moot (and we have the money put away for four years in state so it's not dependent on aid). But I would love for her to have another option and for some reason she has a strong aversion to Virginia Tech! I sort of due to. I hate driving to Blacksburg,they get a fair amount of snow, and housing is a little tough after first year.

Your daughter must have been a great student to have gotten a full tuition scholarship to UConn. I grew up in CT but UConn wasn't on my radar. I had to get out of CT.

 

[EACarlson]

Just booked the hotel and told the kids we are going to South Dakota as soon as school lets out in June. While not the Paris trip I wanted to do, it will be great time with the kids before they don't want to be seen with me anymore. Hopefully they will be a little more interested in their Native roots after seeing the Badlands. $150/nt for a two bedroom suite in Rapid City.

 

[mamapenguin]

I got an email this morning for 5% in Disney Rewards on my Chase Disney Premier for spending at grocery stores and gas stations in August and September.

Is this a targeted offer or do you think it is for all Chase Disney Premier cards? I didn’t get the email.

 

[ctinct]

Your daughter must have been a great student to have gotten a full tuition scholarship to UConn. I grew up in CT but UConn wasn't on my radar. I had to get out of CT.

Thanks. She was salutatorian of her class and it was an automatic scholarship because of that. And she didn’t want to go there, either, but I made her visit anyhow, since it would have been a financial option. Her verdict after the visit: “Well, I guess it isn’t TERRIBLE.” Lol. She went to a much smaller school in PA.

Good luck to your daughter. I hope she ends up in the perfect place for her. We visited UVA, btw, and she liked it, but I don’t think it would have been in the cards for her had she applied. Being a state school, they don’t give much aid to out of staters. You’re so lucky to have so many great state schools on VA. She liked William and Mary, too.

 

[havaneselover]

Thanks. She was salutatorian of her class and it was an automatic scholarship because of that. And she didn’t want to go there, either, but I made her visit anyhow, since it would have been a financial option. Her verdict after the visit: “Well, I guess it isn’t TERRIBLE.” Lol. She went to a much smaller school in PA.

Good luck to your daughter. I hope she ends up in the perfect place for her. We visited UVA, btw, and she liked it, but I don’t think it would have been in the cards for her had she applied. Being a state school, they don’t give much aid to out of staters. You’re so lucky to have so many great state schools on VA. She liked William and Mary, too.

Lol! Sounds like she ended up where she was meant to go. I honestly wish I'd gone to a small school rather than a large state school. There are pluses and minuses to both though.

Thanks. And when I went (in the mid 90s) UVa was pretty cheap out of state (I was between UVa and University of Pennsylvania and I think UVA was about $17k and Penn was $28k). I know that's no longer the case.

 

[Psychodisney]

The way I've always read it is it's for anyone renewing. As it started yesterday now's the time to look for dps. I don't know if it's all flavors of the plat, I think all the info that's known is in that post.

I found it on mine. We‘ll use it for a car rental. I was on the bubble with this card but it sure has been worth it for this year.

 

[mmmears]

Yes--I found a nice list of colleges using CSS and whether or not they included the non-custodial parent. UVa does. GA Tech does not. We are only looking at state schools because she's looking at engineering. My ex will cooperate but if they include his income (and his wife's?) she wouldn't get any aid (which is fine in state).

I was looking at NC State's Net Price Calculator--that's why I think it's probably doable. She'll apply early to UVA so this may all be moot (and we have the money put away for four years in state so it's not dependent on aid). But I would love for her to have another option and for some reason she has a strong aversion to Virginia Tech! I sort of due to. I hate driving to Blacksburg,they get a fair amount of snow, and housing is a little tough after first year.

Your daughter must have been a great student to have gotten a full tuition scholarship to UConn. I grew up in CT but UConn wasn't on my radar. I had to get out of CT.

One more thing to consider is that there are schools that give out merit scholarships (that don't depend on your income). It's always good to have a few of those on the list in case something goes wrong with the financial aid application or the colleges don't give full need.

 

[travelplanningnerd]

Is this a targeted offer or do you think it is for all Chase Disney Premier cards? I didn’t get the email.

I had to enroll from the email so it may be targeted.

 

[havaneselover]

So in June my YouTube TV charge hit my Amex Platinum 6/24 and the $20 credit hit 6/27. The July charge hit 7/24 and no credit. And they show up differently on my statement. The June charge shows "GOOGLE*YOUTUBE TV GOOGLE PAYMENT" and the July one shows "GOOGLE *YOUTUBE TV ." Why are these things never easy?

 

[havaneselover]

New Amex offer--$10 off $50 at samsclub online or curbside pickup.