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

[hsmamato2]

Okay.

Over all, I prefer the Holiday Inn and Suites on 17th Street. But it hasn't had an update and is really needing one. But most of the rooms are oceanfront. They are all 1 bedroom suites with a galley kitchen. They have big balconies with room for a regular sized patio dining table with 4 chairs and they have lovely corner suites with extra windows and more view. But they need an update badly, really badly, especially to yank out the jacuzzi tub and shower. Yuchh on that. Oh yes - best pools for kids here. Separate adult pool and fairly extensive as OC goes, kids pool, plus indoor pool.

Newest is Hyatt and it is a traditional Hyatt Place if you've ever stayed in one. It's also small, but new. Best price with points. So far. Pools are basic but one has a 1 ft depth area for kiddies.

Quality Inn - ok but old and needing a serious update. I no longer keep up with this rewards program so have no comment on it. Oh - it's been quite some time since I've had a room here, so maybe it's has some update. But I think I would have heard.

Courtyard - well kept but has very small balconies and a lot of rooms are just city view. Jacked up prices for points rooms - 70K all summer. Kind of a 'cold' staff, unlike the others. Similar decor to most CY's. EDIT: I do have to say the owner/manager was very kind one early morning when I was getting coffee with a grand in pj's and brought her a fresh warm cookie.

Hilton has a property further down the street beyond the Boardwalk (past 28th) and it has been beyond my means points wise and $ wise in summer. Off season the others are a much better fit for me. Bay side there are a couple more Hilton products.

High summer I want to be on the ocean side, but there are a lot of nice rooms on the Bay side (a lot are pretty new) and I would stay and walk across Coastal Highway if necessary.

Most newer options are not down near the inlet area. I rarely go anywhere near the crush of people down there or Trimpers. But that is where a lot of people go - there's more rinkydink stuff down there that attracts people.

I did consider buying a property around 10th street, but decided that I wouldn't go often enough to justify and I don't want to have a rental.

SO I booked a potential trip on points/free nights (not too soon) here so glad to hear your review! I'm not overly fussy,location looks great! (now I get to hope it all works out by then)

 

[happ]

I just passed a year of having my Cap 1 Spark Biz card, so I know my AF is coming soon. Do I need to call to see if they will waive the AF for the year or can I SM? Do I wait until the AF posts to that account or can I contact them before?

My card is a few years old so things may have changed, but when my first year was about up I called 3 times. The first time was before the fee posted and they offered nothing. The second time was just after and again they offered nothing, but about a week later I called again. That time they offered to "upgrade" my card to permanently waive the fee going forward.

 

[wanderlust7]

I just checked and mine haven't been extended either. I keep checking because I'm hoping to use them at the beginning of July for a wedding we're going to in Anaheim, was planning to use them at the Fairfield Anaheim Resort but it's only available to book through May 14th. Really hoping DL is open by then so we can go to DL too although at this point not so sure that's going to happen.

That's what I'm waiting for too. I had it booked last June, hoping for next June with an open DLR. I keep checking every couple weeks. I recall them opening dates far later than other places including Courtyard Anaheim Theme Park entrance.

Fairfield Anaheim released more dates through early August. I booked late June with 2 FNC. Planning to book 2 more nights cash to use up DH's Brilliant credit. Hope DLR will be open!

 

[palhockeymomof2]

I'm getting nervous. I rented a place by the beach in Florida for a month (January) but the covid numbers in that county (which were about the same as at home when I rented) keep going up. The positivity percentage there is over 20% compared to around 7% at home. I was planning to pretty much isolate but be on a beach with nicer weather and I will lose almost all of my money at this point, but I'm really having second thoughts.

We just spent 10 days in Orlando over Thanksgiving.....some restaurants outside of Disney were fine.....if your going to eat out I’d do so during the week and eat outdoors...also grocery shop and eat in

 

[Judique]

I'm getting nervous. I rented a place by the beach in Florida for a month (January) but the covid numbers in that county (which were about the same as at home when I rented) keep going up. The positivity percentage there is over 20% compared to around 7% at home. I was planning to pretty much isolate but be on a beach with nicer weather and I will lose almost all of my money at this point, but I'm really having second thoughts.

Awww. I feel for you. I don't want to encourage you to go and then it doesn't work out.
It's a tough decision.

I'm okay with being almost totally isolated in a house on the beach and driving versus flying, Getting food delivered or carrying it with me. Whichever side you visit the beach will be cool in January so it's not likely there will be significant crowding unless you are far south.

I've got a bunch of points tied up in my March trip and I'll be watching that one closely as well. The resort is full in March, but even full, Disney's HH is not crowded. I'm still apprehensive until I start seeing numbers come down. Just this morning I started to look at what I could salvage if I did cancel. And, on Hilton Head Island, it's no where near the numbers for the more built up area but, the problem is who will bring it with them? So many people are visitors to the area that it's an unknown risk.

I'm not normally as fraidy cat about stuff but the longer it goes and the closer we get to getting the vaccine, the more I fear letting my guard down. I mean I went back in March and was pretty carefree.

I just don't want to come this far and be a statistic last minute. I'm actually dreading seeing the eye doctor tomorrow morning. I've been screened electronically and I know precautions are in place, but someone is going to be within 6-12 inches. Ewww!

Getting the vaccine would help with the anxiety level. But I doubt I'll have the opportunity by my trip.

 

[Judique]

SO I booked a potential trip on points/free nights (not too soon) here so glad to hear your review! I'm not overly fussy,location looks great! (now I get to hope it all works out by then)

Which property did you choose?

 

[punkin]

I would still go and stay out of restaurants and pick up groceries.

We just spent 10 days in Orlando over Thanksgiving.....some restaurants outside of Disney were fine.....if your going to eat out I’d do so during the weekend eat outdoors...and also grocery shop and eat it.

Awww. I feel for you. I don't want to encourage you to go and then it doesn't work out.
It's a tough decision.

I'm okay with being almost totally isolated in a house on the beach and driving versus flying, Getting food delivered or carrying it with me. Whichever side you visit the beach will be cool in January so it's not likely there will be significant crowding unless you are far south.

I've got a bunch of points tied up in my March trip and I'll be watching that one closely as well. The resort is full in March, but even full, Disney's HH is not crowded. I'm still apprehensive until I start seeing numbers come down. Just this morning I started to look at what I could salvage if I did cancel. And, on Hilton Head Island, it's no where near the numbers for the more built up area but, the problem is who will bring it with them? So many people are visitors to the area that it's an unknown risk.

I'm not normally as fraidy cat about stuff but the longer it goes and the closer we get to getting the vaccine, the more I fear letting my guard down. I mean I went back in March and was pretty carefree.

I just don't want to come this far and be a statistic last minute. I'm actually dreading seeing the eye doctor tomorrow morning. I've been screened electronically and I know precautions are in place, but someone is going to be within 6-12 inches. Ewww!

Getting the vaccine would help with the anxiety level. But I doubt I'll have the opportunity by my trip.

My plan was to limit eating out to only outside seating and even that maybe a couple times on the trip. We will not be far enough south to swim nor even lay out probably, but the weather should be perfect for walking my dog on the beach. We would be taking the dog and the cat and driving down with an overnight in South Carolina (which also has astronomical numbers).

It's a numbers game, I guess, but I'm overweight and DH is obese and we're both in our 50s. I guess we will make a game time decision and pray the numbers don't skyrocket over Christmas.

I would love to get a vaccine, but it looks like we're last on everybody's lists, so I'm thinking no vaccine for us before June, assuming all goes well.

 

[jamesnnick]

A story of caution for anyone with travel credits through Chase UR. We had credits from a cancelled flight on United. I found the replacement flight I wanted on the Chase portal and called in to customer service as directed on the email to book. The customer service rep couldn’t find the exact flight I had chosen, so she found similar times. When we got to the end, the flights she had found were 2X the cost of the one I had found. I gave her the flight numbers for the ones I had found, and she let me know that United wasn’t releasing all available flights to book with travel credits, so even flights that are available for new bookings in the portal don’t show up as available with the credits. I was able to contact United directly to use my credits on the cheaper flight, so it worked out in the end.

 

[Psychodisney]

I just passed a year of having my Cap 1 Spark Biz card, so I know my AF is coming soon. Do I need to call to see if they will waive the AF for the year or can I SM? Do I wait until the AF posts to that account or can I contact them before?

Once your AF hits, there is no going back. I'd recommend being proactive with Capital One. I ended up having to keep mine open for a second year, then ditched it before the AF hit.

 

[Judique]

My plan was to limit eating out to only outside seating and even that maybe a couple times on the trip. We will not be far enough south to swim nor even lay out probably, but the weather should be perfect for walking my dog on the beach. We would be taking the dog and the cat and driving down with an overnight in South Carolina (which also has astronomical numbers).

It's a numbers game, I guess, but I'm overweight and DH is obese and we're both in our 50s. I guess we will make a game time decision and pray the numbers don't skyrocket over Christmas.

I would love to get a vaccine, but it looks like we're last on everybody's lists, so I'm thinking no vaccine for us before June, assuming all goes well.

Your plan sounds workable to me. We've cornered the market here on Doordash, Ubereats and whoever else delivers plus grocery delivery and curbside pickup for takeout food as well, when we've gotten food from places we like in Annapolis, plus DD did it also for Texas de Brazil because we are too far for any delivery. No one has to worry about me dining in, but if they'll fix it for pickup or delivery, we are happy to support them.

If you choose a Marriott property for an overnight, you can check in with the app and get your room number sent to your phone and use your phone for opening the door. It works if the hotel is on the system. Maybe they all are, I don't know.

Other properties are also probably doing this. Traveling in January down south is pretty uncrowded on the road. And with a pet room you'll probably be grown floor close to an exit.

 

[DisMommyTX]

Visa Warranty question. We bought new appliances for our rental house in Oct 2019 from Best Buy on the CSR. The oven just stopped working. Of course the manufacturers warranty just ended, but we should have 1 year extended warranted through Visa, right? The problem is, we pc'ed to the CSP in Feb. So, same number, but does anyone know if it will still cover the extended warranty?

 

[punkin]

Your plan sounds workable to me. We've cornered the market here on Doordash, Ubereats and whoever else delivers plus grocery delivery and curbside pickup for takeout food as well, when we've gotten food from places we like in Annapolis, plus DD did it also for Texas de Brazil because we are too far for any delivery. No one has to worry about me dining in, but if they'll fix it for pickup or delivery, we are happy to support them.

If you choose a Marriott property for an overnight, you can check in with the app and get your room number sent to your phone and use your phone for opening the door. It works if the hotel is on the system. Maybe they all are, I don't know.

Other properties are also probably doing this. Traveling in January down south is pretty uncrowded on the road. And with a pet room you'll probably be grown floor close to an exit.

I'm staying at a hyatt (trying to get to Globalist). But yes... since this whole thing started I ate in a restaurant exactly 3 times and all were in the summer with outside seating. I will certainly be just as careful in Florida. But I wonder if my carefulness will matter when every third person is testing positive. Besides, I guess I'm not that careful since I'm traveling.

 

[Judique]

I'm staying at a hyatt (trying to get to Globalist). But yes... since this whole thing started I ate in a restaurant exactly 3 times and all were in the summer with outside seating. I will certainly be just as careful in Florida. But I wonder if my carefulness will matter when every third person is testing positive. Besides, I guess I'm not that careful since I'm traveling.

Just my opinion but I think that you are careful FOR driving. Pack some gloves for fueling, opening doors, etc. Keep your own hand sanitizer close by for use. I've been ordering the 8 oz Purell from Staples for 4.29 even though others are half the price. Maybe I'm just set in my ways for things I trust.

I really do think it's doable, but I'd do takeout or delivery.

Let me know if you go how that Hyatt is.

 

[Crazed4DisneyinSC]

My plan was to limit eating out to only outside seating and even that maybe a couple times on the trip. We will not be far enough south to swim nor even lay out probably, but the weather should be perfect for walking my dog on the beach. We would be taking the dog and the cat and driving down with an overnight in South Carolina (which also has astronomical numbers).

It's a numbers game, I guess, but I'm overweight and DH is obese and we're both in our 50s. I guess we will make a game time decision and pray the numbers don't skyrocket over Christmas.

I would love to get a vaccine, but it looks like we're last on everybody's lists, so I'm thinking no vaccine for us before June, assuming all goes well.

We just got back from 9 days in Orlando. I will say we did not go to any parks, no eating in restaurants either. We are both in our 30s with no underlying health conditions, and we both think we've already had covid, so we weren't too worried to begin with, but we also do take all the precautions such as wearing masks, not gathering in large groups, etc. to protect our parents and others we do come into contact with. We rented an airbnb on a lake and spent most of our time just enjoying the weather. We went to two beaches while there, one in St Augustine, and one in Tampa. Both were deserted. We picked up takeout a few times, but mostly cooked in our rental. We went to several state parks for hikes/walks and all were also very deserted. I'm sure it was also not a busy time the week before xmas, but for us we felt pretty safe the entire time. But we're also from SC where the cases are not much better either.

The busiest places on our trip were 1) rest areas!! (They were INSANELY busy!!) and 2) we ventured to Disney Springs one night. Never again during a pandemic, lol. Although everyone was wearing masks so we felt relatively safe, there were lines to get in every store since they're limiting the amount of people. The lines for restaurants were also nuts. I had to wait 30 minutes for Amorette's to get a takeout pastry.

Just my two cents.

 

[have2getaway]

He may not get there for a few years. I don't see them dropping a lot of requirements very quickly. One way to return to a higher capacity (and more profits) more quickly is to keep such safeguards in place, and develop plans for using a fast pass type reservation program virtually to promote more social distancing. Take into account that Disneyland has not yet even reopened.

Just throwing stuff off the top of my head here. I figure this virus has caused the way we do business to change long term, not just in the moment. Companies should be looking at ways to survive stuff like this better in the future, to include restaurants, gyms, theaters, bars, churches, schools. I'm not talking masks and social distancing per se. That was/is the stopgap for the moment. There's got to be a better way going forward.

We are starting to realize if we wait for that reason, we could be waiting a while. It has been nearly impossible living in NY to travel anywhere other than the northeast due the quarantine requirements. I think if that changes, It might might open us up to look into our travel options more. As it is now, a trip to Florida would require that we quarantine when we get back, and my husband can’t miss three weeks of work to do that.

 

[georgina]

A story of caution for anyone with travel credits through Chase UR. We had credits from a cancelled flight on United. I found the replacement flight I wanted on the Chase portal and called in to customer service as directed on the email to book. The customer service rep couldn’t find the exact flight I had chosen, so she found similar times. When we got to the end, the flights she had found were 2X the cost of the one I had found. I gave her the flight numbers for the ones I had found, and she let me know that United wasn’t releasing all available flights to book with travel credits, so even flights that are available for new bookings in the portal don’t show up as available with the credits. I was able to contact United directly to use my credits on the cheaper flight, so it worked out in the end.

I am surprised you were able to use the credits directly. I have had a LOT of issues with Chase and United credits, but United told me I had to go through Chase. Had a flight in July that we cancelled, then rebooked for December for more money (took several calls to get it properly rebooked), then recently cancelled that. The December flight never showed up on the Chase website, and now that it is cancelled I have no documentation that it should be worth over $400 instead of the original $230. This is one reason I am using all the UR I can now for PYB on groceries, restaurants, and charity donations.

 

[palhockeymomof2]

We are starting to realize if we wait for that reason, we could be waiting a while. It has been nearly impossible living in NY to travel anywhere other than the northeast due the quarantine requirements. I think if that changes, It might might open us up to look into our travel options more. As it is now, a trip to Florida would require that we quarantine when we get back, and my husband can’t miss three weeks of work to do that.

We are in NY also, both working from home...but even doing that the only way we were able to go see our son for Thanksgiving was the new testing option...with it the quarantine was 5 days since the results came back quickly.

 

[Psychodisney]

I guess I’m rusty with getting new cards and I’m hoping I didn’t make a huge mistake. My DH’s new SW card doesn’t show a date yet for statement close. He was approved 12/13. I put a large payment on it and now I’m worried somehow his points will hit in 2020. I need some reassurance that his statement won’t all of the sudden close and I’ll be SOL. Rookie mistake, I should know better.

 

[palhockeymomof2]

I guess I’m rusty with getting new cards and I’m hoping I didn’t make a huge mistake. My DH’s new SW card doesn’t show a date yet for statement close. He was approved 12/13. I put a large payment on it and now I’m worried somehow his points will hit in 2020. I need some reassurance that his statement won’t all of the sudden close and I’ll be SOL. Rookie mistake, I should know better.

Does it show a payment due date ?

 

[Judique]

I opened my CSP on Nov 2 and my statement closed Nov 18, so it took 16 days.

I did the MSR in one charge on Nov 9th.

Yours may go into the new year due to the holidays, hopefully. Good luck!

PS: I don't know that it will go later, just hoping it does for you!