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

[Haley R]

I was just curious cause it seems anytime I’m looking for more short notice (within 60 days), I find hardly any values or mods. Especially on weekends. I have also not seen nearly as many PLE deals as before

I was looking at events and there’s something almost every weekend it seems for January and February.

 

[AmyAnne]

Her strategy sounds similar to mine. I pay super close attention to others guesses and use those as well. I never really guess wrong either. My dd19 thought I finally got it wrong on NYE but once we pulled the cards out, I told her to ‘read it and weep’ In the most loving way, of course!

We know what she's doing and try to fake her out by showing others cards that she might be more likely to make an incorrect inference about. So instead of showing the "who" card first (because that's the easier category), I might show my son the "where" card instead, thinking she will think I'm showing the "who" card.

She still manages to win most of the time but she loses often enough to keep it interesting for the rest of us.

 

[apollodi]

Belated Happy New Year all! I've been away from the boards for the holidays - we had lots of family visiting, then tons of work to catch up on. I spent the morning catching up on this thread instead of cleaning the house - oops.

Met spend Jan. 1 on both of my SW cards, hoping to earn the CP in time for a late Feb trip to San Antonio. The last few charges haven't posted yet on one of them - hopefully they do soon!

My goals for 2020:

Earn SW CP: just waiting for points to post.
Figure out a CC strategy to go to Hawaii as a family in June 2021.
Not sure what else past that, am thinking about possibly Hyatt or Hilton cards.

Last year was a very high spending year for us, since we put an addition on the house. Hoping that this year will be a saving year with fewer CC apps.

 

[kayteekt]

I've rented 2 cars with my CSR points. No extra fees. I decline the insurance since my personal coverage will kick in and the CSR has rental insurance coverage. hey may try to upsell you to a bigger car category. Stick to what you reserved and you should be fine. Depending on the car you get, I usually have luck and get one with navigation either within the car or I use apple car play and use my phone's navigation. You'll need your driver's license and the credit card (both in your name). T

Have fun!

Thanks! I was thinking the CSR had some sort of coverage.

 

[mmmears]

Our experience on Lindblad/National Geographic in Antarctica last year was outstanding. We spoke with other travelers on board that had experienced the Galapagos with them and they felt it was the best trip they’d had. I imagine Antarctica roped that afterwards LOL

Africa is posing a challenge because what I want to do would likely require more time than I have. Since my dates aren’t very flexible and it is a holiday period I don’t really want to rely on FF miles and award space. I still haven’t really decided if I am going to attempt what I want or compromise. It is very possible I will use MR points to pay for business airfare and use and take advantage of the 35% MR back with the business Plat card. Many of my options require super high taxes and fees IF there is even award space for my dates. For that I would pay with points and earn butt in seat miles.

Thanks for sharing. When I look at Africa it just looks so complicated I keep swinging around to the other options. Knowing that it's not just me who think it's tough to plan with points definitely makes me feel better, although I'm sorry you're struggling with finding the great redemptions. We kept the Biz Plat for that very reason, so good to know that that paying for flights may make sense in this case.

I feel bad. This is me. I always solve it really fast too. I try to drag out my accusations for the kid’s sake but they know I’m going to win

Me, too. In fact, everyone else tends to follow me and start asking either the same or similar questions even when I'm far from solving it. I've had to learn some strategies to curb that. Probably why I enjoy this game so much. With almost every fun game we have we have a typical winner but at least we all have ones we are good at.

Physically can’t do it. Broke my knee a few years ago and can’t run, swim, bike etc.

It's been many years since I've been to the GBR, but we took a boat out there (it still exists) to a platform and there were fish everywhere so you can actually see a bunch without doing actual swimming/kicking if you want to. They also had those glass bottomed boats and the subs that don't actually dive (like in DL) but so many fish are in the shallow areas and the coral only really grows in the shallows and you can see a ton of it. My DM refused to get in the water there, but was able to see a lot of fish and so much pretty coral that day. I know it's not the same, but I wouldn't say it's not worth going there. I won't dive, but I do snorkel. As for the fires, well, I'll just say that that is making me rethink things because I have enough breathing issues without the smoke and that's why China is out for us.

 

[Albort]

Thanks! I was thinking the CSR had some sort of coverage.

if ur looking for stuff @StephPlum mentioned you can try status matching around to get better status with the rental company u are with.

 

[NewbieMom]

Does anyone know if the Amex airline credit can be used on the fees to reinstate miles from an award ticket? I have an AA award ticket booked a year ago that I can't travel now. The fee to reinstate the miles is $150, and I'd like to use the airline credit instead of "real" money.

 

[LynnTH]

How do you check for pending SW points? I know how to check my UR pending points, but can't find a way to see pending SW points. I should have 80,000 pending points as well

Under the SW Card in the App it showed a little spending graph - and it said - you reached your goal of $5000. 80,000 point will be yours soon - or something like that...

 

[jen7233]

Hi, my DH has the Amex Plat and had AA as his airline credit last year 2019, and well, it went unused. He just switched it to SW for 2020, because I thought maybe we can use it for EBCI? Can anyone confirm? Anything else the credit may be useful for with SW? Thanks so much!

 

[LynnTH]

AA Boarding Passes printed and ready to go for Aruba Trip tomorrow all booked on points. So far so good!!

 

[jhoannam]

If a fee posted Dec 1, is it too late to cancel the card? It's a SW Biz card

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

If a fee posted Dec 1, is it too late to cancel the card? It's a SW Biz card

When did your statement close that had this charge on it? Have you actually paid the AF yet?

It might still be possible...

 

[orangecuse]

I called wholesale back because I couldn’t get through to IT and the guy fixed it in 2 seconds. He said sometimes AA pulls the names through funny so he literally just retyped my name and it worked. Too bad person #1 couldn’t have done that!

 

[jhoannam]

When did your statement close that had this charge on it? Have you actually paid the AF yet?

It might still be possible...

Statement closed Dec 12

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Statement closed Dec 12

It hasn’t been 30 days from then yet. I’d give it a try. I’ve seen mixed reports on how long you have so worth a shot. Have you actually paid for the AF?

 

[Judique]

I thought it would be fun for Dh and I to stay onsite sometime during Festival of the arts because we never stay onsite and I want to get some pregnancy pictures taken. I looked at like 4 different weekends and the prices are ridiculous. There’s no way I can convince him. I guess we’re stuck with staying offsite or only going for the day

Didn't you just spend a few days at Animal Kingdom Lodge in September during the hurricane and had a wonderful time? And then stayed in Downtown Disney in the last couple of months? Not sure, but didn't you go to either the halloween or xmas party?

I don't blame you for wanting to go and just get away for a weekend, even though I'm poking with the above list. Maybe you should work out an actual vacation budget with churning help and plan a few getaways in addition to the bigger trips. I think we all put most emphasis on big trips here, but the getaways are what may keep us all sane. If you look at the big picture, you'll know what to be satisfied with and what to work towards.

When you have something booked, planned and paid for a year in advance, there's something to look forward to.

 

[FloridaNative8]

Help!
Dd15 and I are leaving for Disney next Friday. Dh, who isn’t a Disney person, isn’t staying home with DS5 and Dd2. After watching Tim Tracker videos last night I said to Dh that he should be going. He said fine, he’ll go.
Do I keep things as is? Or bring them family. I have enough points to cover 90% off the flights and called Disney who can accomadate them in the room.
Even adding tickets won’t be that much bc I’ll drop park hoppers and deluxe dining.
So take money aspect out of it.

Do I want to change my stress free trip with DD to bring the kids in a double stroller, nap time, meltdowns?
I am doing the half marathon and really just want everyone there.
Especially after the cancer scare, I just want to celebrate the half and life with my family.
But man traveling with a 2 year old brings a certain level of misery to trips

That's a tough call! Will you be able to get decent rest on Friday night before the half if the whole family is there? My DH usually takes the kiddos to the pool or arcade the night before races so I can try to get to sleep early, but I'm a light sleeper and always wake up when they come in. For W&D weekend I got great rest because I was with a couple of girlfriends who were also running (and the cocktails at dinner certainly helped!).

Would you want to see your family on the course somewhere, or rather see them at the finish? Getting to the finish is easy, but there aren't many places for on course viewing for the half. They could monorail to the Poly or GF, see you at mile 7, then monorail back to Epcot for the finish.

If it were me, I would bring them. You have a lot to celebrate, and family is everything! Although that's easy for me to say, it's been a while since I've had a toddler

 

[jhoannam]

It hasn’t been 30 days from then yet. I’d give it a try. I’ve seen mixed reports on how long you have so worth a shot. Have you actually paid for the AF?

yes.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

yes.

I’d still give it a shot. It hasn’t been 30 days since the statement showing your AF. Worst that can happen is they say no, right?

 

[Killer Fish]

I’m planning on getting an annual pass to our zoo because it’s only a mile from us and has a great splash pad. I’m sure we’ll go to Disney a lot and try to go out to eat when we can. I’m overthinking and over planning things like usual lol

We have done a different thing each year. Year 1 was the children's Museum, last year was the Aquarium, next year will probably be Busch Gardens or Tampa Zoo (which I think is not great). We also do Disney at least once every couple of months.

My wife also did a lot of library time when he was young.