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

[Haley R]

As a side note- most of the hotel rooms (non Western chain hotels) I've been looking at in Tokyo are TINY. 174 sq feet is smaller than the cruise ship cabin we just had! Thankfully the room in Kyoto is larger!

That’s why we booked an apartment hotel, Airbnb, and a Hilton

 

[havaneselover]

So I had planned to take DD to London/Paris for spring break next year but I really think I'd rather wait until next summer so we won't be as rushed (8 days vs 10 days). I'm now toying with using URs to book a spring break 2021 trip on Symphony of the Seas. It would deplete my stash, but then I could use MRs for booking flights to Europe and Marriott points for hotel rooms. And hopefully I'll keep accumulating. Just want to get a few more big trips in before college. Has anyone been on Symphony of the Seas? And I take it I just need to call Chase's cruise department?

 

[LuckyMamaInDE]

We just returned from our last minute Magic cruise, our 20th DCL cruise. Can I just say I cant wait for Virgin Voyages? I'm hoping their cruises are as good as they sound because their ships look beautiful! The service, food, overall vibe of this last DCL sailing was not what we're accustomed too. Time to diversify, like credit cards

I keep looking at the Viking options! There's a Greek Islands one that looks perfect

 

[MKTokyo]

Notorious C.I.P. (yes that's me) just laid down a track feat. GrandFloRoba (@PolyRob)

 

[miztressuz]

Well that sounds like fun! Thanks for offering.

I am looking at the Hotel Monterey La Soeur Ginza (looks like this):

View attachment 465700

For four nights:

Checking in November 16 and checking out November 20 (4 nights). 2 adults in the Moderate Double Room N/S, and I am looking at the rate that is free cancellation:

View attachment 465701

Thank you so much!

Ok, I actually found the hotel. I'm seeing two prices for the same flexible cancellation rate on that room, so I'm not sure what the difference is just yet. But the one that matches your circle is 16,104 MR avg per night. (the other is higher for seemingly the same room )



For those 4 nights it's a total of $545.62 or 77,946 MR points. Looks like either cash or points there's an estimated $14.52 due at the hotel for property fees. You can also pay with points and cash - you choose how many points to apply starting with a 5k minimum. This gives .07 cpp value for the MR points. I believe this is typical for all hotel bookings through the portal. This is slightly better than the cash option which is .06 cpp. (Not having done the math, but since the difference is so slight there may be a situation where buying through the portal for the extra earnings and still taking the cash out could make sense, but I have no numbers to prove or disprove it. Just a thought)

Since it seems like their search engine has the same cash pricing and discounts as the one you're using, you should be able to use the .07 cpp valuation to make your calculations for estimating purposes.

 

[DaveL]

SNOW DAY! Hah. For some reason I am more excited than DD even tho I am working from home. Just feels so good to get so much done without the constant interruption of people coming into my office with problems.

 

[DisneyMandC]

SNOW DAY! Hah. For some reason I am more excited than DD even tho I am working from home. Just feels so good to get so much done without the constant interruption of people coming into my office with problems.

This! I am really sad I can't work from home anymore because especially when I'm deep in the weeds of writing something I just need people to not be coming by my office!!

 

[LilSweetPeaPhoto]

I'm running on fumes today (and adderall). Ugh....I need to remind myself that I'm 43 and can't rockstar in class as easily these days.

So funny, I had never heard of Zaxby's until 3 years ago when I moved to South Carolina from up north (Northeast PA then NYC). I always loved Chik-Fil-A, and never ventured to Zaxby's in the 3 years I've lived here until recently when someone described it as "the middle class Chik-Fil-A", meaning cheaper but just as good, lol. I'd have to agree! I love the Zax Snak meal (their chicken fingerz are SO good!) and love love love the seasoned fries and Texas toast. Never knew what I was missing!!! haha.

We have a few Chick Fil A's around here now. We're getting 2 right by my house and I'm not happy. Zaxby's ruined me! And yes, Zax Snak! ALL THE WAY!

Zaxbys is so much better than chick fil a. I wish they and Logan's roadhouse woukd com out here, I miss them.

I'll trade Logan's for a Zaxbys, LOL.

This is blasphemy! Zaxby's is only acceptable on Sunday because we have no other choice.

That's how I learned about Zaxbys when I was dating the ex. He filled me in on "Sunday Chicken". Though he's a Bojangles fan. I take Popeye's over Bojangles.

We stocked up on diapers and wipes today! View attachment 465548

FYI, I wouldn't stock up TOO much. My babies were HUGE and never wore NB size. AND they had certain diapers they could and couldn't do. For the most part my kids had to do Pampers/Luvs as Huggies didn't fit them and they leaked. If nothing else, be sure you can return!

I don't like waffle fries and chick fil a can be too greasy for mw which my stomach doesn't like. Plus zaxbys just tastes better.

And before anyone brings up the grilled chicken at chick fil a, I can grill at home, I generally only get chicken out when it's fried. We don't really have anywhere good here so I just bake panko chicken using a recipe from the chew, it's so good and satisfies.

Agreed Zaxbys is SOOOOOOO good! And now I'm sitting in 2nd hour dying for some chicken, LOL. Between that and no sleep it's going to be a LONG Friday.

Buffett tickets go on sale at 10am. Hoping for better luck that last week. Didn't get a chance at good seats for Raleigh. Every pair I got would sell before I could check out. Trying for Cincy today. Be a nice little spend on the CIP.

 

[elgerber]

OM G I just saw that Disney “Theyre only little for a little while” commercial and I need to book a trip today. No, not crying.
ETA - and Inforwarded it to my husband to see if I can get him on board and he’s “not” crying either.

That ad kills me every time!

 

[amalone1013]

Argh. Went to close my BoA checking account. Pulled from Ally on Wed, was waiting for it to post there before I called to cancel, which was today. They charged me a low balance fee of $12 because my statement closed yesterday Guess I'll push $12 back and call when it posts....

 

[gottalovepluto]

Your post reminds me that I need to look into moving my HSA. It's currently at a bank that charges a fee for investing (it's the bank my employer picked as the default bank). So Fidelity would be a good choice to move it to? Any thoughts about Vanguard (I already have an account there)?

Never put my hsa at Vanguard so no idea. I'm happy with Fidelity, no fees for administration, no minimum balance, no fees for trading of the account, no commissions, can trade via app. For me I suspect it's going to be perfect in the long run, no complaints over the few months I've had it.

A quick google search and it looks like Vanguard doesn't run their own HSA but they pair with 3 outfits that do run HSA's. No idea what that looks like in practice.

 

[becauseimnew]

I have good memories of exchange kids from Spain, Ireland, France, and Belgium. It can be such a good experience (although the Irish girl was a pain ). My parents took one group to DC and another time we went to New Orleans. Disney for all of them. My Spanish cousins love Disney.

This will be our 3rd exchange kid. Our girls attend an international school, my oldest went to Spain in 2018 & my youngest will go in 2021. We hope that the family that we host this fall will host our youngest next fall.

We hosted a Costa Rican girl a few years ago, she had never seen the snow so we took her to RMNP - she was not a fan of the snow or the cold.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Argh. Went to close my BoA checking account. Pulled from Ally on Wed, was waiting for it to post there before I called to cancel, which was today. They charged me a low balance fee of $12 because my statement closed yesterday Guess I'll push $12 back and call when it posts....

Call now and see if they'll waive it as you're closing the account.

 

[miztressuz]

And for anyone else wondering what AmEx MR points are worth, AmEx has a calculator you can see without having a MR card. You select which card you'd be using and it'll show you the rates. I'm not sure why you select a card since I'm pretty sure they're fixed redemption rates, but I'm not an MR expert, maybe there's a super secret perk to a crazy card I'm not aware of Maybe I should select each card and see!

https://global.americanexpress.com/rewards/calculator
As an example, here's what booking through the portal will get you, from .07 - 1 cpp depending on what you're booking.


And I'm pretty sure this is why people view the MR program as complicated and Chase's URs are easy in comparison.

 

[PolyRob]

Chase tax document in informed delivery!

 

[elgerber]

Chase tax document in informed delivery!

View attachment 465729

I had one yesterday but it was for my mortgage. I haven't gotten any from Chase or AMEX yet...

 

[PolyRob]

I had one yesterday but it was for my mortgage. I haven't gotten any from Chase or AMEX yet...

Maybe it’s from my bank bonus then? I’ll report back!

 

[hsmamato2]

Catching up from earlier today, but did everyone see this? Another 20% Amex promo for using points up to $50 off!

https://slickdeals.net/f/13803299-a...s-get-20-off-max-discount-of-50?src=frontpage

Thanks for this! I had completely forgotten to unlink my old amex card and relink with my new MR card... and was wondering why I never qualified for any of the offers....done and done!

 

[Haley R]

I'm running on fumes today (and adderall). Ugh....I need to remind myself that I'm 43 and can't rockstar in class as easily these days.



We have a few Chick Fil A's around here now. We're getting 2 right by my house and I'm not happy. Zaxby's ruined me! And yes, Zax Snak! ALL THE WAY!




I'll trade Logan's for a Zaxbys, LOL.



That's how I learned about Zaxbys when I was dating the ex. He filled me in on "Sunday Chicken". Though he's a Bojangles fan. I take Popeye's over Bojangles.



FYI, I wouldn't stock up TOO much. My babies were HUGE and never wore NB size. AND they had certain diapers they could and couldn't do. For the most part my kids had to do Pampers/Luvs as Huggies didn't fit them and they leaked. If nothing else, be sure you can return!



Agreed Zaxbys is SOOOOOOO good! And now I'm sitting in 2nd hour dying for some chicken, LOL. Between that and no sleep it's going to be a LONG Friday.

Buffett tickets go on sale at 10am. Hoping for better luck that last week. Didn't get a chance at good seats for Raleigh. Every pair I got would sell before I could check out. Trying for Cincy today. Be a nice little spend on the CIP.

We only bought the one box of newborns. We have 2 boxes of size 1 target brand and 1 box of size 1 luvs. We have 3 boxes of size 2 luvs brand. My target app says we can return the wipes and diapers I got yesterday until next January. The luvs I bought in November don’t say so I’m not sure about those

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Never put my hsa at Vanguard so no idea. I'm happy with Fidelity, no fees for administration, no minimum balance, no fees for trading of the account, no commissions, can trade via app. For me I suspect it's going to be perfect in the long run, no complaints over the few months I've had it.

A quick google search and it looks like Vanguard doesn't run their own HSA but they pair with 3 outfits that do run HSA's. No idea what that looks like in practice.

I think that same search is how I found HealthEquity actually.