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

[Alexle2007]

If I want to go for CS Platinum Amex, can I cash out my MRs then get an Amex Business Platinum and cash those out next spring? Just making sure I'm not doing anything out of order. Closing today on refinance. Then was going to open CS brokerage account. Then tomorrow or Thursday apply for CS Plat. I'd be looking at a Business Platinum in the 1st half of 2020 with spending completed by 6/15 (estimated taxes).

Yes, you’ll be able to cash out for long as you have the CS Plat card. I’ve been cashing out about every month since I got my CS Plat. I am going to cancel my Vanilla Plat when the fee is due since the CS Plat has the same benefits.

Make sure you use a link for bonus. CS is funny that the referrer gets nothing but the person using it gets the reward.

 

[Alexle2007]

Has anyone ordered the large denomination GCs from Simon Mall? We have lots of bills these days with taxes, college payments, and rent. Just not crazy about giving them my SS#, but it is definitely cheaper than paying by cc. The rent place wants over 3% to charge on a cc.

They frequently offer discount on the CC fee and free ahippng. Just make sure to check your email for them.

 

[havaneselover]

Yes, you’ll be able to cash out for long as you have the CS Plat card. I’ve been cashing out about every month since I got my CS Plat. I am going to cancel my Vanilla Plat when the fee is due since the CS Plat has the same benefits.

Make sure you use a link for bonus. CS is funny that the referrer gets nothing but the person using it gets the reward.

Thanks so much!

 

[ten6mom]

My husband was gifted a hotels dot com gift card as a work-iversary present. We are looking at a way to use it but I, being ever-cautious, am worried about the difficulty of canceling a reservation not made direct with a hotel, as well as the reservation potentially getting "lost" and other such concerns.

Have any of you used hotels dot com for reservations and how was your experience?

 

[trenty]

My husband was gifted a hotels dot com gift card as a work-iversary present. We are looking at a way to use it but I, being ever-cautious, am worried about the difficulty of canceling a reservation not made direct with a hotel, as well as the reservation potentially getting "lost" and other such concerns.

Have any of you used hotels dot com for reservations and how was your experience?

I have used hotels DOT com - but never with a gift card. I have always booked refundable rooms and they were easily cancelled when I needed to cancel.

 

[ski_mom]

My husband was gifted a hotels dot com gift card as a work-iversary present. We are looking at a way to use it but I, being ever-cautious, am worried about the difficulty of canceling a reservation not made direct with a hotel, as well as the reservation potentially getting "lost" and other such concerns.

Have any of you used hotels dot com for reservations and how was your experience?

I have booked hotels dot com with a gift card in the past. As long as it is booked at a refundable rate, if you needed to cancel, it will go back on your gift card. The only thing I've run into booking through hotels dot com is that not all hotels are bookable with a gift card. I know the drury chain is one of them. You can only choose to pay at the hotel when you book for their hotels.

 

[magickingdomprincess]

I’m trying to decide whether my DH and I should both (try to) get a Hilton Aspire, or if just one of us should, and I have a few questions. When staying at Hilton on HH points or using an Aspire free weekend night cert, do you have to pay a resort fee? If so, can the Aspire $250 resort credit be used for resort fees and parking fees? Specifically looking at using the credit at the Grand Wailea and Hilton Hawaiian Village. I haven’t booked our hotel yet, but when pricing rooms it appears we would need to pay the resort fee, but I think I read somewhere else that you don’t pay it so I’m not sure which is correct. Thank you!

 

[georgina]

Has anyone used the pay yourself back on CSR for charities? I donated to World Central Kitchen, which is on the list, yet when my statement closed it did not show up as an eligible pay myself back charge.

 

[Alexle2007]

I’m trying to decide whether my DH and I should both (try to) get a Hilton Aspire, or if just one of us should, and I have a few questions. When staying at Hilton on HH points or using an Aspire free weekend night cert, do you have to pay a resort fee? If so, can the Aspire $250 resort credit be used for resort fees and parking fees? Specifically looking at using the credit at the Grand Wailea and Hilton Hawaiian Village. I haven’t booked our hotel yet, but when pricing rooms it appears we would need to pay the resort fee, but I think I read somewhere else that you don’t pay it so I’m not sure which is correct. Thank you!

No, you do not pay the resort fees on FNC or point stays. I have the Grand Wailea booked on points for Dec.

Yes, the resort Credit can be used for parking charged your hotel room.

i have the Aspire and am seriously getting DH one after we finish with Chase.

 

[Alexle2007]

We were originally going to Orlando for Labor Day but we called an audible and booked flights to San Antonio to try the Hyatt Regency Hill Country instead. Cash price $1955, Hyatt points for the win at 60k for 4 nights. I am happy with the value I got out of them. Anyone ever stayed there? I see SeaWorld is nearby but I am not sure if we will go or not.

 

[calypso726]

I’m trying to decide whether my DH and I should both (try to) get a Hilton Aspire, or if just one of us should, and I have a few questions. When staying at Hilton on HH points or using an Aspire free weekend night cert, do you have to pay a resort fee? If so, can the Aspire $250 resort credit be used for resort fees and parking fees? Specifically looking at using the credit at the Grand Wailea and Hilton Hawaiian Village. I haven’t booked our hotel yet, but when pricing rooms it appears we would need to pay the resort fee, but I think I read somewhere else that you don’t pay it so I’m not sure which is correct. Thank you!

@Alexle2007 is correct. No resort fee on FN and point stays. This is by far my favorite sock drawer card and we have had it from day one of its inception. DH and I each have our own card and use our FN certs to plan a weekend stay. We have received immense value from the card. If I could get a 3rd and 4th Aspire, I would.

 

[ski_mom]

We were originally going to Orlando for Labor Day but we called an audible and booked flights to San Antonio to try the Hyatt Regency Hill Country instead. Cash price $1955, Hyatt points for the win at 60k for 4 nights. I am happy with the value I got out of them. Anyone ever stayed there? I see SeaWorld is nearby but I am not sure if we will go or not.

We are looking at San Antonio for this fall as well. I am planning on using Hyatt points, but was looking at the Riverwalk hotels. I hadn't looked at the Hill Country location and it does look very nice! It will just be DH and myself though, so we probably wouldn't use the water park too much, but I'm going to run it by him to see what he thinks.

 

[Judique]

We were originally going to Orlando for Labor Day but we called an audible and booked flights to San Antonio to try the Hyatt Regency Hill Country instead. Cash price $1955, Hyatt points for the win at 60k for 4 nights. I am happy with the value I got out of them. Anyone ever stayed there? I see SeaWorld is nearby but I am not sure if we will go or not.

I loved San Antonio and the Hill Country area when I lived in Texas many years ago. I've often thought of doing a visit back. A good friend of mine attended a conference at this Hyatt a couple of years back and loved it.

September will probably be HOT. I remember arriving in south Texas in mid August from South Carolina and being paralysed by the heat. But, enjoy and send us loads of pictures. There are some interesting little towns nearby, but my memories are probably too old and dusty to be of any use. @snugglebug is nearby and can probably give some better suggestions. Of course there is Riverwalk and The Alamo. And I'm sure loads of Tex Mex food options. Texas and Mexico border towns are where I learned how to love this food - what you get around here is still not the same.

Other memories include tubing and lakeside camping nearby, but not sure how outdoorsy you are interested in.

 

[Alexle2007]

I loved San Antonio and the Hill Country area when I lived in Texas many years ago. I've often thought of doing a visit back. A good friend of mine attended a conference at this Hyatt a couple of years back and loved it.

September will probably be HOT. I remember arriving in south Texas in mid August from South Carolina and being paralysed by the heat. But, enjoy and send us loads of pictures. There are some interesting little towns nearby, but my memories are probably too old and dusty to be of any use. @snugglebug is nearby and can probably give some better suggestions. Of course there is Riverwalk and The Alamo. And I'm sure loads of Tex Mex food options. Texas and Mexico border towns are where I learned how to love this food - what you get around here is still not the same.

Other memories include tubing and lakeside camping nearby, but not sure how outdoorsy you are interested in.

Thanks for the recommendations! Yeah, DH was looking at the temps, basically low 100s every day. Thank goodness for the water park. DS suddenly loves steak so I’ll be looking for a good steakhouse and, of course, BBQ! I just excited to try someplace other than Orlando for a change.

 

[Alexle2007]

We are looking at San Antonio for this fall as well. I am planning on using Hyatt points, but was looking at the Riverwalk hotels. I hadn't looked at the Hill Country location and it does look very nice! It will just be DH and myself though, so we probably wouldn't use the water park too much, but I'm going to run it by him to see what he thinks.

A nice pool was on DS’s requirement list. I can see how the Riverwalk would be nice for a couple’s only trip.

 

[FloridaNative8]

I am planning to take my family on a trip to the Florida Gulf Coast sometime in late October through mid November (before Thanksgiving). We will have business in Tampa for a few days and then want to spend the rest of the week on the coast somewhere. I think we'd all enjoy Sanibel Island. My only concern is that some of us must log in to the internet for work/school during the day. I am worried about the wifi and/or cell signal on the Island. I have called a couple of Inns and asked them about it but was not given any definitive answers. For those of you who have traveled there recently, would you plan a trip where you absolutely had to be able to log in and work during the day? If Sanibel is too sketchy, we will find someplace else. Any ideas or advice?

I'm just getting caught up on the thread, sorry for the late reply! We stayed in Sanibel last month, and I think it just depends. The wifi at our resort was okay, not great - I was able to get online to do a HW assignment, and my kiddos said the streaming on their devices was glitchy. Of course YMMV! We have Verizon for our cell service, which works amazing everywhere - except on the beaches of Sanibel Pics wouldn't send via text, and as soon as we stepped onto the sand there was no signal at all.

If I had to be online all day, I'd be nervous to do that there, unfortunately. It worked out for us because it forced us to unplug

 

[FloridaNative8]

All this Hawaii talk is making me happy! After talking with the kiddos, we've decided to switch our previously cancelled Disneyland trip to Hawaii next summer. DH and I went to Oahu 5 years ago, and the kids have been asking us to go since! We want to go to Maui this time, especially based on everyone's recommendations.

Now, to rack up the points and decide on the next CC. I had planned to apply P2 for the CSP via my referral (we thankfully got a last sip from the CIPpy cup in March), he is 0/24 for personal cards. We did a refi in June, and our spend has stayed pretty decent where we could meet MSRs easily.

So, should we do a MDD for P2? Or both go for the Aspire to work towards a Grand Wailea stay? There's been no CC action for me since 12/19, and P2s CIP was 3/25.

We have a very healthy UR balance, a pretty decent MR balance (and have been using the Gold as our everyday driver), and okay-ish RR points.

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

All this Hawaii talk is making me happy! After talking with the kiddos, we've decided to switch our previously cancelled Disneyland trip to Hawaii next summer. DH and I went to Oahu 5 years ago, and the kids have been asking us to go since! We want to go to Maui this time, especially based on everyone's recommendations.

Now, to rack up the points and decide on the next CC. I had planned to apply P2 for the CSP via my referral (we thankfully got a last sip from the CIPpy cup in March), he is 0/24 for personal cards. We did a refi in June, and our spend has stayed pretty decent where we could meet MSRs easily.

So, should we do a MDD for P2? Or both go for the Aspire to work towards a Grand Wailea stay? There's been no CC action for me since 12/19, and P2s CIP was 3/25.

We have a very healthy UR balance, a pretty decent MR balance (and have been using the Gold as our everyday driver), and okay-ish RR points.

Hmm, I don't see any reason why you can't do the Aspire now, then do the MDD in a few months. Or vice versa. Also keep in mind with the AmEx Hilton biz card you get a FNC for $15,000.00 spend in a calendar year. I love my Aspire -- it's a keeper for me. However do keep in mind that it carries a $450.00 AF. I easily get value from the card with the annual FNC and free breakfast for diamond members; just keep the AF in mind if you both apply for it.

 

[Judique]

UPS just brought a tasty little surprise!

If you are native to the expanded DC area, you may be familiar with the Whisked Bakery products, but if not, you can look here: www.whiskeddc.com .

Many local coffeeshops, Giants and other outlets sell these cookies individually, but we like to order them occasionally direct from the bakery as they are freshest this way. So, I didn't know I'd made an impression but darling daughter noted I'd mentioned ordering the Bourbon Pecan Pie. It just arrived and is delicious!

 

[magickingdomprincess]

No, you do not pay the resort fees on FNC or point stays. I have the Grand Wailea booked on points for Dec.

Yes, the resort Credit can be used for parking charged your hotel room.

i have the Aspire and am seriously getting DH one after we finish with Chase.

Thank you!

@Alexle2007 is correct. No resort fee on FN and point stays. This is by far my favorite sock drawer card and we have had it from day one of its inception. DH and I each have our own card and use our FN certs to plan a weekend stay. We have received immense value from the card. If I could get a 3rd and 4th Aspire, I would.

But do you recommend the Aspire? I wasn't sure from reading your post Seriously though, thank you! I know for a lot of you who (normally) travel a lot and in nicer hotels, it makes a lot of sense to have the Aspire. For us, we usually only go on a few big trips a year, and mostly to Disney (World or Land) and use DVC points so I wanted to make sure the math worked out first.

Does anyone know how long it takes to get the FNC after being approved for the card? Is it pretty quickly? I think I'll have DH apply in the next few days, and then hopefully if he's approved he can refer me in a month or so (to help spread out the MSR). I'd love to get the GW booked as soon as possible, I've never stayed there before so no idea how far in advance it books up. Thanks!