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

[WardFam]

If you were to pick one of these hotels, which would you choose?
These are our options for Christmast week. My first option would be Maui, but that's the only hotel not on the beach. This will be our first trip to Hawaii, hiking & beaches are the most important thing.

Courtyard Maui Kahului Airport - Maui
Courtyard Oahu North Shore - O'ahu
Courtyard King Kamehameha's Kona Beach Hotel - Island of Hawai'i
Sheraton Kona Resort & Spa at Keauhou Bay - Island of Hawai'i

I haven’t stayed at any of these, but none of them appear to really stand out over each other so maybe just go with whatever island you want to go to? I haven’t been to the big island so I don’t have an opinion there, but out of Oahu Kaui, and Maui Oahu is my least favorite island. But - the Courtyard is on the North Shore which is the most beautiful part of Oahu so it has that going for it. I love Maui! But the airport isn’t really near any beaches so you will do quite a bit of time driving. But we like to explore the island anyway so we end up driving a lot anyway. It is on the way to Hana so you won’t have to drive quite as far if you are planning on doing that one day.
I don’t think I’m being very helpful! I guess if being close to your hotel for midday breaks is important to you then go Oahu, but if you think you will be out all day exploring anyway I would go Maui?

 

[WardFam]

Baby Miles was born this morning at 7:45 AM...arrived at the hospital at 6:45 so it was VERY quick. Everyone is doing great!

Congrats! So fast! And I love the name!

 

[Lain]

If you were to pick one of these hotels, which would you choose?
These are our options for Christmast week. My first option would be Maui, but that's the only hotel not on the beach. This will be our first trip to Hawaii, hiking & beaches are the most important thing.

Courtyard Maui Kahului Airport - Maui
Courtyard Oahu North Shore - O'ahu
Courtyard King Kamehameha's Kona Beach Hotel - Island of Hawai'i
Sheraton Kona Resort & Spa at Keauhou Bay - Island of Hawai'i

I have not stayed at any of these hotels. Nor have I been to Hawaii.

But, reading the reviews, I read a lot of 'outdated rooms' comments for the Sheraton.

I always try to read reviews and I steer clear of 'most' older rooms unless the reviews are consistently good for them.

When reading a review I ignore the ones where they 'didn't recognize my status' ' the front desk was rude' 'they gave me a room where I didn't have a view', etc,
but I concentrate on outdated, not clean, see through thin towels, etc.

The other 3 seem to be average to good Courtyard properties. Now lets see if anyone has stayed at any of them.

I personally would not stay at the Courtyard Oahu North Shore, but it might work for you.

It is in a very rural part of the island, that is generally very inconvenient to drive to and from. It's located right near the Polynesian Cultural Center, but otherwise far from pretty much everything else. It's in Laie, where there's a strong LDS community and there's a really nice temple nearby. There are places to eat and small shopping centers to get groceries etc. You're looking at about an hour drive from downtown Honolulu and a little more to and from the airport. Kualoa Ranch is maybe 25 minutes away, and you're probably another 10 minutes away from the shrimp trucks in Kahuku, 20-30 minutes away from what many people actually consider the "North Shore."

It's also not on a beach. It's located along Kamehameha Hwy, which in that part of the island is a two lane road that hugs the coastline. The hotel is on the inland side of the highway, and iirc there are beachfront houses or vacation rentals on the other side of the highway. However, all beaches in Hawaii are public and there are public access paths to the beach. Again, Kamehameha Hwy is basically a two lane road up that way. On the weekends, traffic can be horrible with tourists and locals heading up to the North Shore and towards Haleiwa. Parking for the North Shore beaches tends to be on the side of the highway, so you might encounter a lot of backup as people are trying to find a parking spot. If you plan to drive around the island, also plan ahead to avoid rush hour traffic as you hit the H1 and H2 freeways.

However, if you enjoy the "country," the location might not be that bad. It's away from the hustle and bustle of Honolulu, traffic, homeless, etc. I love the Windward side of the island. The Koolau Mountains (that you see in movies all the time doubling as somewhere in Africa, South America, Isla Nublar or Jumanji) are breathtaking. There are many ranches on that side of the island where you can ride horses. There's a zip line attraction nearby. The beaches are a lot less crowded than on the south and east shores. And there are many great hikes on the Windward side of the island.

 

[LynnTH]

So a few days ago I posted that DH got approved for the Citi Premier. He keeps getting emails and flyers for the Delta Card. (We have had pop ups for a while). So, figured since they are targeting him to give it a try. Instant Approval on the Gold Biz. 60,000 points for $2000 MSR. Figured since I can use the Citi for my mortgage to try for this (I usually don't like more than 1 MSR at a time).

Then right after he was approved - I remembered that I could have gotten 10,000 points for referral bonus. Duh... But not sure if he would have been approved since it was not the link they sent. Oh well.
No plans for the points but I'm sure they will come in handy some day.

Per conversations earlier. I like to Earn and Burn and Hoard them. Been using quite a bit of UR's with the CSR so getting a lot of use that way. I am under 400,000 UR's now though and feeling a bit anxious. All vacations for this year are already paid for (with points of course). Trying to figure out next years vacations - but harder with 2 College Kids and not sure where they will be... Love vacationing with them and they still love vacationing with us (or they love free vacations...)

 

[LilSweetPeaPhoto]

Just repriced the Maui to San Jose leg of our return flights for our Spring Break trip on SW! The price of that leg dropped by $130.70 each!! Just goes to show how overpriced they were initially. It always makes me very nervous to cancel DS's companion ticket in order to reprice one of DH's tickets, especially for this leg of our Maui trip. I was holding my breath the whole time, but it all worked. Phew! We'll be able to use these travel funds for our late August weekend trip to Vegas to see Cal play UNLV at the new Raiders stadium (assuming it's actually finished -- crossing fingers on that one).

As Rebel, I gotta say, Go UNLV!

Nice! I'm really excited to get my new card. I wish the airline credit was easier to use, but it looks like a great card overall. I really like staying at the Hilton Paddington before flying out of Heathrow. The Heathrow Express is super quick and so convenient to the hotel--literally steps away.

If you set Delta as your airline, there are still ways to use the $250 creatively. Check out FlyerTalk. I just got 2 flight from DTW to RDU in april for $25 RT I just cancelled my Aspire as I can't seeing using the $250 resort credit this year, or needing the other free night (I have the grandfathered Surpass w/ the free night). I'm going to wait it out a bit and do the free hilton later this year (I've done all the others, Surpass, Aspire, Biz) and then hope that gets the upgrade offer down the road someday when I need an Aspire again. I'll keep the surpass as long as there is a free night tied to it. I'll probably close the biz down the road too. I've got all my Amex slots filled and I don't like that. I don't play the BonBon game, but I might want to get back into it someday. Who knows.

As for the strategy....I'm totally hoarding. I need to start planning some kind of trip with these points. My URs are over 200k and I'll get the 80k more w/ the CIP. My Delta is at like 150k, my AA (my lowest) is at 55k and my Hilton is at like 450k. I forget my IHG (it's low too). I know that's peanuts compared to a bunch of yall, but it's time to start using them!

 

[Lain]

I haven’t stayed at any of these, but none of them appear to really stand out over each other so maybe just go with whatever island you want to go to? I haven’t been to the big island so I don’t have an opinion there, but out of Oahu Kaui, and Maui Oahu is my least favorite island. But - the Courtyard is on the North Shore which is the most beautiful part of Oahu so it has that going for it. I love Maui! But the airport isn’t really near any beaches so you will do quite a bit of time driving. But we like to explore the island anyway so we end up driving a lot anyway. It is on the way to Hana so you won’t have to drive quite as far if you are planning on doing that one day.
I don’t think I’m being very helpful! I guess if being close to your hotel for midday breaks is important to you then go Oahu, but if you think you will be out all day exploring anyway I would go Maui?

@becauseimnew -

I completely agree with @WardFam. Don't let the choice of hotel steer you to an island; decide which island you want to visit and the hotel is just a place to drop your bags, shower, and sleep. None of these hotels are destinations in themselves, so don't plan your trip around them.

Oahu, Maui, and the Big Island each have so much to offer. And if this is your first trip to Hawaii, I would recommend getting out there and exploring whichever island you pick, and not staying at whatever hotel happens to work with your points or certs.

 

[palhockeymomof2]

Baby Miles was born this morning at 7:45 AM...arrived at the hospital at 6:45 so it was VERY quick. Everyone is doing great!

Congratulations

 

[Lain]

Baby Miles was born this morning at 7:45 AM...arrived at the hospital at 6:45 so it was VERY quick. Everyone is doing great!

Congratulations!

Awesome name! When can we expect Baby Points?

 

[elgerber]

If you set Delta as your airline, there are still ways to use the $250 creatively. Check out FlyerTalk. I just got

any chance you could point me in the right direction?

 

[magickingdomprincess]

Yes! Exactly! Except I do wish DH would get a little more excited about talking about upcoming vacations. Sometimes I need someone to talk to about my excitement! I don’t want him to actually help plan the vacations. Just a little excitement about how awesome I am at planning them along the way. Is that too much to ask? He does love the vacations while we are on them. He just doesn’t want to obsessively talk about them every day before we go like I do.

This is very much like my DH! I try to talk to him about them and he's just not that interested. I don't get it Earlier today I was trying to talk to him about Hawaii for 2021 and I felt like I was trying to convince him to go to Hawaii! Like, really? I don't get it. And it's not that he doesn't like it there, we've been twice and he's really enjoyed it!

Baby Miles was born this morning at 7:45 AM...arrived at the hospital at 6:45 so it was VERY quick. Everyone is doing great!

Congrats!!!

 

[Haley R]

Baby Miles was born this morning at 7:45 AM...arrived at the hospital at 6:45 so it was VERY quick. Everyone is doing great!

Congrats!!! That’s a really quick birth. My cousin had her baby a few days ago and she was in labor for 30 hours! I hope mine isn’t that long

 

[magickingdomprincess]

A question on the SW Premier personal $75 credit - can this be double-dipped? Could we add EBCI for 3 flights and then cancel the card? Not sure when the $75 credits go into effect, but he got an email recently saying it was available "soon" or something to that effect.

 

[reliev]

Just keep in mind that your CC can only be linked to one dining rewards program. So if you belong to say SW already with your CSR and then sign up for AA and link your CSR, it will be moved from SW to AA since you can't double dip. I don't think there is a way to remove CCs once they are linked.

whats happened to me is they remove it from that other program and add it to the one you are trying with. So it doesnt allow you to double dip.

 

[Crazed4DisneyinSC]

@becauseimnew -

I completely agree with @WardFam. Don't let the choice of hotel steer you to an island; decide which island you want to visit and the hotel is just a place to drop your bags, shower, and sleep. None of these hotels are destinations in themselves, so don't plan your trip around them.

Oahu, Maui, and the Big Island each have so much to offer. And if this is your first trip to Hawaii, I would recommend getting out there and exploring whichever island you pick, and not staying at whatever hotel happens to work with your points or certs.

Second this ^. For what it's worth, we did the 4 major islands in 2018. We absolutely fell in love with the Big Island (Hawaii) and Maui. Didn't care for Kauai, and Oahu was more of a combination city/tropics that wasn't what we pictured for a hawaiian vacation. We would love to take a 2 week trip back to either the Big Island or Maui in a heartbeat.

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

If you set Delta as your airline, there are still ways to use the $250 creatively. Check out FlyerTalk. I just got 2 flight from DTW to RDU in april for $25 RT

Not a Delta flyer as they don't have a hub near me. I do follow FT so I'm creative with WN Thanks for the head's up though!

 

[becauseimnew]

I haven’t stayed at any of these, but none of them appear to really stand out over each other so maybe just go with whatever island you want to go to? I haven’t been to the big island so I don’t have an opinion there, but out of Oahu Kaui, and Maui Oahu is my least favorite island. But - the Courtyard is on the North Shore which is the most beautiful part of Oahu so it has that going for it. I love Maui! But the airport isn’t really near any beaches so you will do quite a bit of time driving. But we like to explore the island anyway so we end up driving a lot anyway. It is on the way to Hana so you won’t have to drive quite as far if you are planning on doing that one day.
I don’t think I’m being very helpful! I guess if being close to your hotel for midday breaks is important to you then go Oahu, but if you think you will be out all day exploring anyway I would go Maui?

Thanks, we probably would be out all day, our girls will be 10 & 13 by then, we don't need to get back to the hotel to rest.

I personally would not stay at the Courtyard Oahu North Shore, but it might work for you.

It is in a very rural part of the island, that is generally very inconvenient to drive to and from. It's located right near the Polynesian Cultural Center, but otherwise far from pretty much everything else. It's in Laie, where there's a strong LDS community and there's a really nice temple nearby. There are places to eat and small shopping centers to get groceries etc. You're looking at about an hour drive from downtown Honolulu and a little more to and from the airport. Kualoa Ranch is maybe 25 minutes away, and you're probably another 10 minutes away from the shrimp trucks in Kahuku, 20-30 minutes away from what many people actually consider the "North Shore."

It's also not on a beach. It's located along Kamehameha Hwy, which in that part of the island is a two lane road that hugs the coastline. The hotel is on the inland side of the highway, and iirc there are beachfront houses or vacation rentals on the other side of the highway. However, all beaches in Hawaii are public and there are public access paths to the beach. Again, Kamehameha Hwy is basically a two lane road up that way. On the weekends, traffic can be horrible with tourists and locals heading up to the North Shore and towards Haleiwa. Parking for the North Shore beaches tends to be on the side of the highway, so you might encounter a lot of backup as people are trying to find a parking spot. If you plan to drive around the island, also plan ahead to avoid rush hour traffic as you hit the H1 and H2 freeways.

However, if you enjoy the "country," the location might not be that bad. It's away from the hustle and bustle of Honolulu, traffic, homeless, etc. I love the Windward side of the island. The Koolau Mountains (that you see in movies all the time doubling as somewhere in Africa, South America, Isla Nublar or Jumanji) are breathtaking. There are many ranches on that side of the island where you can ride horses. There's a zip line attraction nearby. The beaches are a lot less crowded than on the south and east shores. And there are many great hikes on the Windward side of the island.

Thanks, Lain. I'll cross that off my list.

 

[Calfan]

My DH got the Surpass upgrade. $95 AF 150,000 hh points for 3k spend. He has the no fee card right now. I have the Aspire and love the card.

I also have the Aspire and love the Diamond status and free weekend night. The $250 resort credit is a little trickier for me to use since I'm not in the habit of planning travel specifically to use a benefit like that (I travel so much anyway that it's hard to justify adding something I wouldn't do otherwise just to use a benefit), but I did find a way to use it this year at the Waldorf Astoria Las Vegas. I'm really excited for DH to have the Aspire too to double up on the free nights and for him to have Diamond status as well. And it's super handy that we can pool Hilton points. Right now, I'm planning to keep both as long as we are getting good use out of the free night certs every year and are finding ways to use the credits. I upgraded him this morning!

On the topic of hoard or earn and burn, I do some of each. I hoard until I have a need for the points and then burn. And sometimes I burn opportunistically if I happen to have the right currency (e.g., First Class flight on Delta to Rival Run Half Marathon at WDW in April). Right now, the only thing I'm hoarding in a big way is URs. I've got over one point three million URs, and I do sometimes get anxious about sitting on so many. However, I have never pushed any Chase boundaries with my accounts, so I don't see any reason I'd be at risk from Chase. I got approved for the CIU this morning, and that was my first Chase card since late 2018. I do plan to go for the SW CP late this year/early next, so I will be laying off Chase until then. I'm definitely planning to use some of my UR stash to book business class flights to Basel, Switzerland and home from Amsterdam for our 2021 Rhine cruise, so that is likely to be my next big redemption. KLM could be an option home from Amsterdam, so I was happy to see a new partnership with KLM, Delta and Virgin Atlantic, since I can transfer URs to VS. That could really open up some Delta/Delta partner doors for us without having to push Amex boundaries to earn MRs. DH and I will also be traveling with DD to Scotland in September to take her to university, so I'll be using some of my UR stash for that and might splurge for business class there too.

 

[becauseimnew]

Second this ^. For what it's worth, we did the 4 major islands in 2018. We absolutely fell in love with the Big Island (Hawaii) and Maui. Didn't care for Kauai, and Oahu was more of a combination city/tropics that wasn't what we pictured for a hawaiian vacation. We would love to take a 2 week trip back to either the Big Island or Maui in a heartbeat.

THANK YOU! I think the Big Island and Maui are my top choices, just from the little research I've done. We are not big city tourist, which is why Oahu was my last choice. And this is why I wish DH was a little involved in the planning process, but I know when I ask all he'll say is "I don't care, whatever you want"

I just want to burn the 150K BonBons before March 4th. I just booked the Gaylord Texas Resort for Memorial day weekend, I was actually able to use 2 - 35K certificates. Now if I could figure out when the water park actually opens, the website says 2 things - Open Memorial Day to Labor Day, but another part of the website says Memorial Day Weekend.

 

[Artygal90]

Does anybody else like to do this:

So having just gotten back from our WDW trip, I'm sitting here thinking what I was doing exactly 1 week ago today, haha! I love doing that when we get back from a trip. 1 week ago right now I was Meeting LaunchPad McQuack and then heading to Finding Nemo the Musical for the 1:00 show!

I did this for the past two weeks too! At first I was just super sad. Now I have graduated to shopping for subtly Disney-themed home decor and looking at photos....two weeks ago I was solving a puzzle room with DH in Orlando!

 

[happ]

Baby Miles was born this morning at 7:45 AM...arrived at the hospital at 6:45 so it was VERY quick. Everyone is doing great!

Congratulations!