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

[SouthFayetteFan]

You might still be right. I thought they changed it but the FAQ still says points will be returned for no shows:

If you no show your reward travel reservation, the points will be redeposited to the purchaser’s Rapid Rewards account. Any taxes and fees associated with your reward travel reservation will be held for future use in the form of reusable travel funds under the name of the traveler(s).

https://www.southwest.com/html/customer-service/purchasing-and-refunds/index-pol.html
I'd rather not put it to the test personally. Hopefully this helps @Artygal90

That one has always astounded me... seriously; it’s just stupid generous!!!

 

[smmco]

I would never consider getting on a cruise ship right now but I guess that’s just me. Seems like a crazy thing to do

It's pretty much 50/50 on the cruise boards right now. My cruise is not until August, but I've been referred to as stupid, reckless, crazy, selfish, narcissistic and I can't remember the rest for not canceling, and if you're one bit positive about the whole thing then you are uncompassionate to the people that are angry at Disney for offering a cruise credit and not a 100% refund. I think everyone has a different level of risk tolerance and people should just chill and let people do what they are comfortable with without judgement. Wait until there's a couple of cases at WDW. The resorts board will go up in flames.

 

[Haley R]

It's pretty much 50/50 on the cruise boards right now. My cruise is not until August, but I've been referred to as stupid, reckless, crazy, selfish, narcissistic and I can't remember the rest for not canceling, and if you're one bit positive about the whole thing then you are uncompassionate to the people that are angry at Disney for offering a cruise credit and not a 100% refund. I think everyone has a different level of risk tolerance and people should just chill and let people do what they are comfortable with without judgement. Wait until there's a couple of cases at WDW. The resorts board will go up in flames.

If your cruise isn’t until August I wouldn’t be worried right now either. I just meant I wouldn’t get on a cruise ship tomorrow, not after seeing my relative was stuck on that ship off the coast of California. That just sounds horrible to me. I haven’t heard anything about how he’s doing or where he is right now

 

[smmco]

If your cruise isn’t until August I wouldn’t be worried right now either. I just meant getting on a cruise ship tomorrow. Not after seeing my relative was stuck on that ship off the coast of California. That just sounds horrible to me. I haven’t heard anything about how he’s doing or where he is right now

My cruise is out of Copenhagen. I'll buy a good cancel for any reason insurance. hope for the best and plan for the worst. My job has informed us that if we visit a level 2 country we will have to stay home for two weeks... if that's not incentive to visit a level two-country I don't know what is. Joking aside I have plenty of time to save and budget for a two-week unpaid staycation and I have an emergency fund. I am surprised how many people are angry about the travel voucher. It's not something DCL had to offer and if I was in their shoes I could adapt, overcome and find another week to sail in the next year.
There are people who would like to see the government cancel all cruises so they can get a refund, but that would be so devastating to the economy. A lot of people would lose jobs and suffer. I would rather lose my money then see ten of thousands of people laid off. I guess I'm getting old because I've been through a couple of recessions and would not like to see another one.

 

[snugglebug]

I paid $1.89 at Costco today in SE Wisconsin!!! When was the last time you paid under $2/gallon?!

$1.76 at Costco today.

Austin is going to suffer this virus in a bad way. SXSW has been cancelled. So many businesses depend on the money they make during that time, crazy that a short amount of time can make or break your year. They may not have the funds to continue beyond this summer and there was talk of not be able to do it next year. The ripple effect is huge- Uber/ Lyft and AirBnB, it's the busiest time for our little airport as well. I think SXSW is getting more talk around here than Coronavirus at the moment.

But hey, I was able to get my 2 cases of Costco water and I found hand sanitizer today. I'll need tp next week so fingers crossed I can get that too.

 

[snugglebug]

Fill a travel bottle with soap for your purse. If there’s water, soap is better anyway.

That is pretty much what I said today, I should just carry my own soap with me. I found one at Sprouts today so I feel fine with my 3.5 little bottles and my daughter has a few she can dig up in her bedroom if needed.

 

[PolyRob]

Disappeared for a bit! Work got super crazy and I was putting in a ton of hours including the past two weekends

I still went and saw Onward because I had preordered my tickets! I am so happy I saw it. I really enjoyed the original story. I think some of the reviews out there are a little unfair and the box office has been impacted by Covid19 (looks slower than the Good Dinosaur). If you like your sibling/siblings, go see it!

In CC news, I am still slowly making my way through my Green MSR. Seriously, I have been purposely dragging it out to keep the spend on the card low. I still need to use that Away credit, but I am torn on color! Why is this decision so hard?!?

I also got this email today:



I had been waiting for this offer for months. So excited to finally be targeted!

 

[afan]

News out that the governor joined by the 3 biggest cities mayor's and county exec's from 3 counties will announce tomorrow no gatherings over 250. Guess my 10k will be cancelled this weekend which is bummer since it's the county to the south of me but I understand the reasoning. Nothing new about schools but I imagine it'll change how cafeteria lunches and stuff are if not more than that. I'll just run it at the gym, supposed to have a low of 28 so I wasn't looking forward to running outside anyway.

Just hoping it all helps since it's a bit of a catch up in some aspects at this point but not as bad as Italy, poor country/people.

 

[Lain]

I am so glad that I cancelled the Maldives. I was originally concerned about transiting through airports and regions and a possible quarantine. I now see that 2 atolls have confirmed cases of the virus.

I have decided against NYC and Hawaii. If we travel it will be to Toronto for a few days. Toronto hasn't yet had any community transmission, but they say it's just a matter of time. Currently airports don't worry me -- we always have plenty of hand sanitizer and I have travel-size packages of Clorox wipes. So for now we are heading home for a week for Passover / Easter.

Dd's school hasn't announced they will be going online only, but it wouldn't surprise me if they did after break. Time will tell. This week they cancelled the school tv station trip to Washington and March of the Living has also been postponed (not school-related but several of her friends were going on this trip).

Did you see this?
https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/coronavirus-quarantine-luxury-maldives-resort/index.html

 

[snugglebug]

Did you see this?
https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/coronavirus-quarantine-luxury-maldives-resort/index.html

I totally wouldn't mind being quarantined there.

 

[Artygal90]

You might still be right. I thought they changed it but the FAQ still says points will be returned for no shows:

If you no show your reward travel reservation, the points will be redeposited to the purchaser’s Rapid Rewards account. Any taxes and fees associated with your reward travel reservation will be held for future use in the form of reusable travel funds under the name of the traveler(s).

https://www.southwest.com/html/customer-service/purchasing-and-refunds/index-pol.html
I'd rather not put it to the test personally. Hopefully this helps @Artygal90

Thanks. I'll decide the day before - hope the best and prepare for the worst. I would love to give my sister her birthday present in person.

My BIL just got married this weekend. They left for a blowout honeymoon today which includes a two-week repositioning cruise Talk about fearless!

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Thanks. I'll decide the day before - hope the best and prepare for the worst. I would love to give my sister her birthday present in person.

My BIL just got married this weekend. They left for a blowout honeymoon today which includes a two-week repositioning cruise Talk about fearless!

Honeymoon....... I see a lot of "self quarantine" in their future anyways

 

[PolyRob]

Honeymoon....... I see a lot of "self quarantine" in their future anyways

 

[wendow]

In credit card news, under 5/24 is rapidly approaching and I desperately want a CIP!!! For 2 reasons, so I can get the points and so I can transfer existing points to my Hyatt account for next year's summer trip. It's been tempting to just cash out my little bit of UR's for actual cash and use it for 'little' trips, but 100K of UR's is 5 nights at a Hyatt that would cost me $2500 plus tax in July, versus a $1000 in everyday cash. Gotta keep focused here!

I'm under 5/24 in April and eyes on the prize....a shiny, new CIP I can't wait!!!

 

[wendow]

Talk about fearless!

My aunt is 70 and my uncle is 79. They leave early April for an 11 night cruise Really!?! They are seasoned cruisers and so I think they feel comfy but I'm like "What the heck are you thinking!?! Been watching the news? At ALL???"

 

[havaneselover]

It's pretty much 50/50 on the cruise boards right now. My cruise is not until August, but I've been referred to as stupid, reckless, crazy, selfish, narcissistic and I can't remember the rest for not canceling, and if you're one bit positive about the whole thing then you are uncompassionate to the people that are angry at Disney for offering a cruise credit and not a 100% refund. I think everyone has a different level of risk tolerance and people should just chill and let people do what they are comfortable with without judgement. Wait until there's a couple of cases at WDW. The resorts board will go up in flames.

Oh, good grief. People are nuts. Mine is also in August. I'm toying with re-booking for next summer and switching from Alaska to Europe. But I'm in wait and see mode. I think Disney is and will continue to be accommodating.

 

[havaneselover]

My aunt is 70 and my uncle is 79. They leave early April for an 11 night cruise Really!?! They are seasoned cruisers and so I think they feel comfy but I'm like "What the heck are you thinking!?! Been watching the news? At ALL???"

My co-worker's parents are in their late 60s and are taking a river cruise through France and Germany. He told me he wasn't worried since it was a river cruise. As of yesterday, VA had 9 know cases of coronavirus. 3 from the Nile river cruise. No way on earth would I be going to France/Germany or going on a cruise there at this point. I hope they are responsible when they return and self quarantine.

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

Did you see this?
https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/coronavirus-quarantine-luxury-maldives-resort/index.html

I saw this yesterday and almost posted. I think someone on here just came back from Maldives, too? Or maybe I'm confusing threads ...

 

[ten6mom]

I can't help with life insurance, but I do work for an estate & probate attorney. I always tell people that it's cheaper to pay my boss to do your estate planning ahead of time than to pay her to untangle everything after you die. I can tell you she has had more than one person do wills & powers through LegalZoom that then did not hold up in court for one reason or another. Every state has their little quirks and the one-size-fits-all software can't always account for all of it. Of course, she is always thinking of the worst-case scenarios since she's been practicing for ages and has seen every complicated situation under the sun and I'm sure some people do LegalZoom and are fine.

What state are you in again? Probate is not always a huge PITA depending on where you are - here in TX it can be relatively painless as long as everything is set up right ahead of time. I recommend reaching out to friends for recommendations and sitting down for an appointment with someone to get a feel for what you might need. My boss at least won't charge people just to sit down and have an initial conversation, and will give a quote if clients want one before proceeding. If paying a lawyer to set up your estate planning isn't in the cards financially, reach out to your state bar and see what self-help resources they have available.

Wow, that is good to know.

I am in Arizona. I've never had to deal with anything like this. My parents are still alive and I believe they have a Living Trust... probably time to go over that with them again. They're in their 70's.

This was some years ago, but I used this site to get term life quotes:
www.quickquote.com

I liked that you don't have to give them your contact info before they give you quotes. They do ask, but you don't have to enter it at the quote stage.

For most people, term life is all you need. Whole life is very expensive and you'd be paying a lot to get the coverage you need. Here's a good explanation:
https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/insurance/what-is-the-difference-between-term-whole-life-insurance/

Will check them out; thank you!

Even better - my nephew's school team used a service that gathered email addresses from each player (they had to submit a certain number) and then sent emails, supposedly from the kid, to each email address with a link to where the person was supposed to donate. Then follow up emails putting pressure on so that the kid could meet their "goal". Such a scam - and the service got a cut of what was raised. Outsourcing panhandling (in a town that is really really well off, too). Needless to say, I did not donate a dime.

We just did this for band for the first time last fall. The company was an "approved" vendor through the school district. The fundraising board member said she did NOT like dealing with the company at all! I mean, we raised what we needed to purchase a new trailer for all the equipment but I don't think anyone liked the experience.

I hesitate to weigh in on the legal side. I used somebody local and fairly inexpensive to do that work for us.

The life insurance comes down to a series of questions. In the event of an untimely death of either spouse, what would you need (and want) to have covered? How would it affect your household income? How might it affect the surviving spouse’s income (ie could they still do the same job)? Would you want to payoff the mortgage? Any other debts? Would it affect your ability to save and/or contribute to your children’s college education? ETC....

My wife is a SAHM so in our situation we have substantial policies on me that I renewed last year so they run through when my youngest is 24 and should be done with college. The goal of the policies are to cover my family’s living expenses without requiring my wife to go back to work. I have been rewriting the 20 year term every 2-3 years while I’m healthy (with a small uptick in premiums each renewal due to me being a little older).

We used to have a substantial amount on my wife also. Especially when the children were not of school age. The purpose was to be able to hire a full time nanny if necessary. As the children have grown (and we have no plans for more) I’ve reduced her policy somewhat since the expense of childcare would be far less at this point. Its purpose now would allow me to take a step back in my job if necessary to be more present at home or provide a safety net for a time if I was unable to work due to the grief around the situation.

So in general I advise that you have a purpose to your life insurance. While it’s not bad to have too much, it’s good to have a sense of what it’s there for and perhaps adjust as time goes along.

Yeah that's a tough one. We both work... my husband and I were both independent before we met each other so theoretically we would each be OK if something happened.. but.. yeah.

Piggybacking on this - for people who are young and healthy, the time is NOW. We didn't get on the ball until we were having kids (I was already pregnant). We have a term policy on DH that is super cheap, that will carry us through the time our kids are grown. It was based on our salary expectations 15 years ago, so its probably less than we should have gotten, but its enough. By the time we talked to the insurance people, we had found out (through pregnancy complications) that I have a genetic condition that makes me pretty much uninsurable - its easily managed with cheap medication, but insurance companies take one look and jack my premiums up so high there is no point. If I had gotten insurance before I knew about that, it would have been nice. Fortunately I'm able to get insurance through my work without having to do the health stuff. I'm eligible because I signed up as soon as I joined the company. If I were to try to increase the salary multiple, or if my coverage exceeds a certain dollar value, I would need to get a health exam, so thank goodness for the HR person who advised me when I first started to max it out. Its not enough that DH would be able to stop working forever, but its enough that it would give him a cushion to be able to adjust if anything were to happen to me. Depressing stuff, but very important.

Well, we aren't young (46 and 47) so I wonder how difficult it will be. Best to do it now rather than wait any longer, I suppose.

Thanks everyone!

 

[ten6mom]

So no news on the churning front.. .just working my way through the MSR on the CIP.

Regarding shut downs/schools/etc: My kids are on a two week spring break, not due back until March 24. They're in junior high and high school. So far there have been a couple of "presumptive positive" cases in the community just east of us, but they were reported to be mild and the patients recovered.

However, WGI (Winter Guard International) just had a big "power regional" event canceled by a Township in New Jersey, and we are supposed to travel to San Bernardino for just such a "power regional" next weekend so it'll be interesting to see what happens with that. (It was the host city that canceled it; not WGI).

Also this past weekend we had a smaller competition in town, and of course the weekend before that, I was in Disneyland. Oh and our high school is hosting a Guard competition this coming weekend.

Ugggghhhhhhh!

If our event in San Bernardino ends up getting canceled, do Hilton points just go back into the HH account if the reservation is canceled (within the cancellation period), no issues?

I sure hope this is under control by November when we are supposed to go to Japan.