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

[palhockeymomof2]

It's almost the last day of the month! How about a little MSR recap?

Capital One Venture- $100 into $3000 MSR
Jetblue Biz- $830 into $1000 MSR
Amex Gold- $2100 into $4000 MSR
CIU- $2100 into $3000 MSR

SW Performance..met the MSR with MILs assisted living $5,059 bill
Everything else went on the highest UR category earning card

 

[IFlossU]

Reading about these trips to the Grand Wailea has me needing Hilton cards all of the sudden In fact, reading this thread pretty much has me needing ALL THE CARDS right now I feel like as a newbie the options are endless. A great problem to have.
But I have been giving quite a bit of thought to the Hilton cards this week and trying to work out a plan of attack given the pop ups. For a trip to the Grand Wailea I think the Aspire is valuable, so figured that would be good to try for first. Then hopefully be able to get DH and myself Biz Cards down the road. Reading here though it seems like such a gamble. There’s no assurance that if we get the Aspire we’ll be able to get the biz cards without the pop up. I’m rambling, but it’s been on my mind.

 

[orangecuse]

We are in a weird spot for MSR in that its currently being knocked out via Plastiq so we COULD do another MSR organically with WDW coming up, but the timing isn’t quite right for anything.
Plan is Chase for P2 in March, and then hopefully Hilton Aspires in May, and maybeeee the Chase Hyattx2 in June, but maybe another biz instead. I think we’ll throw all of our disney spend on P2s Hilton biz to keep Amex happy and work on the FNC.

 

[wanderlust7]

Ok I'll try plan A and spend on my dl card because I'd rathrt stay at the hilton than sheraton but at least I know my backup plan wouldn't be awful to do.

We stayed at the Sheraton paying cash (pre-churning days). They're next to each other and equally close. Sheraton has the advantage of coin laundry and you can charge park tickets to the room without jumping through hoops. Saturday nights are usually very expensive, so using Bonvoy points would be a good deal. Weeknights can be fairly cheap and may be a better deal using URs if you have them.

 

[afan]

We stayed at the Sheraton paying cash (pre-churning days). They're next to each other and equally close. Sheraton has the advantage of coin laundry and you can charge park tickets to the room without jumping through hoops. Saturday nights are usually very expensive, so using Bonvoy points would be a good deal. Weeknights can be fairly cheap and may be a better deal using URs if you have them.

Won't be doing laundry at this point in the trip but good to know on that and charging tix to the room. Though I thought that could be done at the hilton too.

We won't be there on sat night and I need to be mostly in via hotel points or transfer with mr. The urs I'll get going forward will go to hyatt unless they come out with a biz with a good sub in the next few months. I can't get enough urs for both hyatt and the sheraton to give me thr option.

I also would stick with the hilton card going forward along with my hyatt but wouldn't the marriott.

Glad they are comparable properties though.

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

@calypso726 return flight from Edinburgh booked. I fly from EDI to LHR early on September 28th, then from LHR to Toronto on September 29th at 5:00pm (business class both flights -- nothing available in first that entire week). I transferred 50,000 URs to BA and booked. I think I'll use some of my Hyatt points and book the Hyatt Churchill for the night of the 28th. This gives me a day in London to hit some of my favorite stores and of course the food hall at Harrod's for dinner (I have a slight obsession with London food halls). Works out perfectly! I hope work agrees (not that they technically have a choice -- one of the benefits of being a consultant -- I will simply mark myself out for the days I'm gone!).

 

[wanderlust7]

Won't be doing laundry at this point in the trip but good to know on that and charging tix to the room. Though I thought that could be done at the hilton too.

We won't be there on sat night and I need to be mostly in via hotel points or transfer with mr. The urs I'll get going forward will go to hyatt unless they come out with a biz with a good sub in the next few months. I can't get enough urs for both hyatt and the sheraton to give me thr option.

I also would stick with the hilton card going forward along with my hyatt but wouldn't the marriott.

Glad they are comparable properties though.

You might be able to charge park tickets to the room at the Hilton, but it's more of a special exception thing and goes through a manager. The contact info is on Dischurners if you end up needing it.

 

[calypso726]

@calypso726 return flight from Edinburgh booked. I fly from EDI to LHR early on September 28th, then from LHR to Toronto on September 29th at 5:00pm (business class both flights -- nothing available in first that entire week). I transferred 50,000 URs to BA and booked. I think I'll use some of my Hyatt points and book the Hyatt Churchill for the night of the 28th. This gives me a day in London to hit some of my favorite stores and of course the food hall at Harrod's for dinner (I have a slight obsession with London food halls). Works out perfectly! I hope work agrees (not that they technically have a choice -- one of the benefits of being a consultant -- I will simply mark myself out for the days I'm gone!).

Oh it sounds like a fabulous trip you got coming together there! Haven't been to Harrod's in ages! Now you've got me wanting to go back to visit both Scotland and London this year. LOL

 

[bernina]

Curious on opinions... I want to fly into London and out of Paris, or vice versa. I can fly direct from DEN to London but not Paris. Would you put the direct flight at the beginning or end of a trip, and why? Curious as to reasoning...

Personally I'd fly into London and out of Paris since the departure tax flying out of London can be ridiculous.

Edited to add: I see a few people already beat me to the departure tax issue

 

[CyndiLouWho]

OK so please forgive the newbie questions but the jammies mention got me thinking.

I guess I assumed, like robes in a hotel, that pajamas provided to passengers on planes would be returned to the plane at the end of the flight. Am I mistaken?

Also- since this will more than likely be the ONLY time we ever fly first class (although I suppose my goals might change after this), I want to take advantage of every perk that I can without being the .. gosh. I don't know how to say it. Like I don't want it to be painfully obvious that I've never done it before but I also don't want to miss out on any the perks because we want to experience as much as we can. So forgive me for sounding both ignorant and uncouth, but I figure you're a safe group to ask these questions in. So, please bear with me.

To recap: We are flying ANA from LAX to NRT in first, and back from NRT to LAX in business.

1. Jammies. Keep or get returned at the end of the flight?
2. Alcohol (both in the lounge and on the plane). Complimentary? I don't drink much other than foofie drinks, but my husband would like to try this Hibiki (?) whiskey that might be on the plane. Is there a limit? (Not that he is going to get sloshed, but if he likes it I'm sure he would like more than one glass). If this is frowned upon, I would like to know beforehand.
3. Basically any no-nos. I mean, I don't normally think of myself as tacky, but I'm definitely not used to airport lounges (of any sort), nor international first class flights. So is there anything we should take care NOT to do?
4. Any other perks we SHOULD make sure to take advantage of? I definitely plan to visit the lounge at LAX prior to departure. Since the flight leaves relatively early (around 1130), I want to take an early airport shuttle over. I think there will be a different area where we can check in (with potentially shorter lines). I am guessing, but am not certain, that after checkin and after security they will point us in the direction of the lounge. If they don't, is it tacky to ask?
5. IN the lounge, I have to assume there are speakers so we can hear when our flight is being called?
6. Anything else anyone can think of that I should know about?

I get you. I’d be the same way. I’m always trying to be inconspicuous when trying something new. Last year we flew in Main Cabin Extra which is not fancy but does include drinks. DH kept asking “are you sure it’s free?” Lol

That’s awesome! HRH is a great location and such an easy walk to the parks. My DS is exactly the same and hates reading. They are reading Romeo and Juliet for school and he particularly dislikes it. Heck, even I have a hard time trying to figure out what they are saying.

So glad he is enjoying the HP books!

He will hate middle school/high school English for that reason. I love to read and don’t enjoy Shakespeare.

For those of you that use Serve to pay your bills, have you ever had it take a week for your payment to post? According to the Serve website my Chase payment was received and cleared last Friday the 24th, however, the payment still hasn’t posted on my DH Chase account. I also made a payment at the same time for my own Chase card and it posted almost immediately. Fortunately I made the payment very early so it’s not overdue yet, but I’m starting to get a little concerned since it’s been 6 days since they received payment.

I have had some payments to Chase from Great Southern Bank take a looong time. Like 6-7 days. No idea why. It didn’t show on either side but then posted in time.

I have called on flights booked with my DHs account and the rep let me me change don’t know it’s YMMV

I changed our Hyatt ressie, he can give it a shot with SW. If not, I’ll try.

 

[calypso726]

Looks like we are going to DC! We had speculatively booked The Willard after last week's fiasco with our final unrestricted IHG free night certs. Flights are booked. I had some left over SQ miles that were going to be expiring soon and was able to book on UA with those. Hopefully, our timing works out for cherry blossom blooms.

 

[georgina]

@calypso726 return flight from Edinburgh booked. I fly from EDI to LHR early on September 28th, then from LHR to Toronto on September 29th at 5:00pm (business class both flights -- nothing available in first that entire week). I transferred 50,000 URs to BA and booked. I think I'll use some of my Hyatt points and book the Hyatt Churchill for the night of the 28th. This gives me a day in London to hit some of my favorite stores and of course the food hall at Harrod's for dinner (I have a slight obsession with London food halls). Works out perfectly! I hope work agrees (not that they technically have a choice -- one of the benefits of being a consultant -- I will simply mark myself out for the days I'm gone!).

Impressed. We're probably going to London and Edinburgh in September and I have nothing yet, waiting for DD to decide on her dates. I have to go back and find your old posts about booking BA with UR's.

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

@calypso726 return flight from Edinburgh booked. I fly from EDI to LHR early on September 28th, then from LHR to Toronto on September 29th at 5:00pm (business class both flights -- nothing available in first that entire week). I transferred 50,000 URs to BA and booked. I think I'll use some of my Hyatt points and book the Hyatt Churchill for the night of the 28th. This gives me a day in London to hit some of my favorite stores and of course the food hall at Harrod's for dinner (I have a slight obsession with London food halls). Works out perfectly! I hope work agrees (not that they technically have a choice -- one of the benefits of being a consultant -- I will simply mark myself out for the days I'm gone!).

We'll miss you by a day Love the food halls, too. Our favorite is Selfridges And I'm with you on shopping in London.

 

[afan]

The girl scout cookies on CIP coded as office and shipping. Don't think that's 3x on CIP and I can't figure out how to see the points awarded, when I click on the transaction it's not showing. Either way the 2nd order of 2 boxes went on the amex as operation make them happy started tonight.

 

[Albort]

The girl scout cookies on CIP coded as office and shipping. Don't think that's 3x on CIP and I can't figure out how to see the points awarded, when I click on the transaction it's not showing. Either way the 2nd order of 2 boxes went on the amex as operation make them happy started tonight.

you typically will see how much u earn in the total points first before it shows anything else... that of course, you would need to see the before purchase and after purchase...

 

[miztressuz]

The girl scout cookies on CIP coded as office and shipping. Don't think that's 3x on CIP and I can't figure out how to see the points awarded, when I click on the transaction it's not showing. Either way the 2nd order of 2 boxes went on the amex as operation make them happy started tonight.

You have to look on the UR portal for the points, the biz cards don't show it in the transaction details like the personals. Should see it in the recent activity list. Shipping is 3x on the CIP so the coding is promising.

 

[Alexle2007]

Looks like we are going to DC! We had speculatively booked The Willard after last week's fiasco with our final unrestricted IHG free night certs. Flights are booked. I had some left over SQ miles that were going to be expiring soon and was able to book on UA with those. Hopefully, our timing works out for cherry blossom blooms.

All things considered, so far it has been a pretty mild winter. I think they are even calling for the 60s early next week.

i hope you get to enjoy them though!

 

[havaneselover]

On Shakespeare, my ds is also reading Romeo & Juliet and hates it. First of all he's too immature for the star-crossed lovers story. Then he doesn't understand why it's written the way it is. And he's mad the teacher won't just show them Gnomeo and Juliet. We have block scheduling and English is Day 1 and almost every day 1 DS has a terrible stomach ache and wants to come home before English class. Act 1 quiz is Monday--maybe I need to buy the Cliff Notes (do people still use those?).

 

[Alexle2007]

On Shakespeare, my ds is also reading Romeo & Juliet and hates it. First of all he's too immature for the star-crossed lovers story. Then he doesn't understand why it's written the way it is. And he's mad the teacher won't just show them Gnomeo and Juliet. We have block scheduling and English is Day 1 and almost every day 1 DS has a terrible stomach ache and wants to come home before English class. Act 1 quiz is Monday--maybe I need to buy the Cliff Notes (do people still use those?).

OMG, my DS sounds like your DS’s younger twin.

Sounds like my DS is a head week. He just completed Act 2 questions this week and will have a quiz on Mon. The funny thing is they turn in their questions, don’t know if they have the correct answers and then don’t even have them to use to study. They have been watching the movie with it which I think helps.

My DS absolutely hates his history class since they are covering the major religions and not history from his perspective. He suddenly doesn’t feel good on those days.

 

[Haley R]

On Shakespeare, my ds is also reading Romeo & Juliet and hates it. First of all he's too immature for the star-crossed lovers story. Then he doesn't understand why it's written the way it is. And he's mad the teacher won't just show them Gnomeo and Juliet. We have block scheduling and English is Day 1 and almost every day 1 DS has a terrible stomach ache and wants to come home before English class. Act 1 quiz is Monday--maybe I need to buy the Cliff Notes (do people still use those?).

You could use sparknotes for free: https://www.sparknotes.com/nofear/shakespeare/romeojuliet/

I used this in high school and college a couple times