I love credit cards so much! v4.0 - 2021 (see first page for add'l details)

[becauseimnew]

Update on Florida Trip for Me, DS22 and DD19 for March.

Flights - Booked with SW Points 15,197 points per person ( DD is my Companion, so Free for her)
Hotel- Booked Cabana Bay at Universal - got good Seasonal Pass Rate - Total for 7 nights - $1100.25 (could not use points on this rate- paid 1 night with BOA that I am working on MSR on)
Car Service - 8114 UR Points for RT to and from hotel
Universal Tickets - 69,222 UR Points for 4 Day/3 Park to Park Passes - Will upgrade to Seasonal Pass when we get there.
Discovery Bay - 38,342 UR Points for 1 Day includes Upgraded Premier Drink Package and 14 Day Access to Sea World/Aquatica
Discovery Bay Cabana - $300 (Used BOA that I am working in MSR on)

So I only need to pay for the remainder of the hotel and food/drinks. DH has a $1300 credit on his AMEX Delta Card from some other cancelled travel plans. Do you think I can use that to pay for room and for expenses even though he will not be with us on the trip. I have no problem using the card on a day to day basis but not sure if they will require him there to use this at hotel. Or would it be better to use it and buy Universal Gift Cards in advance and put on the room?

Can you prepay it?

 

[pinkxray]

I think staying in my house other than work/school is getting to me. I have always said I will never go to FL July-Sept because of the heat/humidity.
Just sent DH a text that maybe we should do a Sat-Thurs trip to Universal in July. It just seems so much easier in summer to travel so we don’t have to worry about the kids getting covid test or quarantine since they will be home. Dh and I can get Covid test and go back to work on time.
I checked the prices and wow, they are higher than I’m used to. Maybe I need a new card to help

 

[tink1970]

I have several Free 1-4 Hyatt night certs. If I were to stay at a cat 4 in February would it make sense to use points instead of the FNC since we get points back? Am I overthinking this? lol Have till the end of the year for the FNC so hoping can use them at another time if we don't now.

I guess I'd ask myself how much do I value FNC v. points and look at your travel plans for 2021 and go from there. If you foresee travels that would maximize the FNCs within the year, I'd use points now during the promotion. However, if you're wanting to hoard points for a cat 5 or higher stay then I'd use FNCs.

If you have any Suite Night Awards, they can't be applied to FNCs so when I'm planning a stay, I also take that into consideration (you can get pixie dusted and upgraded room wise but not a guaranteed suite upgrade, which I prefer). Taking that into consideration, I personally have used two of my FNCs on a cat 1 property and just booked a Cat 3 on the Riverwalk using points so I could apply my SNA.

 

[LynnTH]

Can you prepay it?

Not sure. May have to call and find out.

 

[disfanforlife]

I think staying in my house other than work/school is getting to me. I have always said I will never go to FL July-Sept because of the heat/humidity.
Just sent DH a text that maybe we should do a Sat-Thurs trip to Universal in July. It just seems so much easier in summer to travel so we don’t have to worry about the kids getting covid test or quarantine since they will be home. Dh and I can get Covid test and go back to work on time.
I checked the prices and wow, they are higher than I’m used to. Maybe I need a new card to help

I always said that too. I booked for September though for different reason. we have DVC points that will expire at the end of September. Would love to go now but DH wants to wait until we have been vaccinated. Fingers crossed we will be by then.

 

[Haley R]

I think staying in my house other than work/school is getting to me. I have always said I will never go to FL July-Sept because of the heat/humidity.
Just sent DH a text that maybe we should do a Sat-Thurs trip to Universal in July. It just seems so much easier in summer to travel so we don’t have to worry about the kids getting covid test or quarantine since they will be home. Dh and I can get Covid test and go back to work on time.
I checked the prices and wow, they are higher than I’m used to. Maybe I need a new card to help

I know the feeling. We’ve basically stayed inside this entire time since last March. It’s really starting to get to me. We’ve been doing local hikes for now but even our small local zoo has been overrun lately with people on vacation so we stopped going. Dh and I have been talking about Disney though because we miss it so much. The prices seem pretty high even with the Florida resident discount

 

[disfanforlife]

I know the feeling. We’ve basically stayed inside this entire time since last March. It’s really starting to get to me. We’ve been doing local hikes for now but even our small local zoo has been overrun lately with people on vacation so we stopped going. Dh and I have been talking about Disney though because we miss it so much. The prices seem pretty high even with the Florida resident discount

That stinks, you are in Florida and can’t get out much. I am in the frigid north, but we have more trees than people. My DH and I walk about 3 miles a day and rarely see another person, so at least we can go outside.

 

[becauseimnew]

I think staying in my house other than work/school is getting to me. I have always said I will never go to FL July-Sept because of the heat/humidity.
Just sent DH a text that maybe we should do a Sat-Thurs trip to Universal in July. It just seems so much easier in summer to travel so we don’t have to worry about the kids getting covid test or quarantine since they will be home. Dh and I can get Covid test and go back to work on time.
I checked the prices and wow, they are higher than I’m used to. Maybe I need a new card to help

DH wants me to cancel our July Grand Canyon trip and switch to Universal. He said that if he's going to sweat he would rather do it at Volcano Bay and Diagon Alley. I'm thinking about going Sun - Wed, but I want to do a split stay 2 nights at HRH and 2 nights at Cabana Bay.

 

[havaneselover]

I think staying in my house other than work/school is getting to me. I have always said I will never go to FL July-Sept because of the heat/humidity.
Just sent DH a text that maybe we should do a Sat-Thurs trip to Universal in July. It just seems so much easier in summer to travel so we don’t have to worry about the kids getting covid test or quarantine since they will be home. Dh and I can get Covid test and go back to work on time.
I checked the prices and wow, they are higher than I’m used to. Maybe I need a new card to help

So I'm in Virginia and Florida is no worse than VA in the summer so I'm not too phased. My parents are in SW FL and their highs are typically at or below 90 (and never above 95) while we can have dreadful humid summers with stretches in the high 90s/over 100. Granted, being on the Gulf help Naples vs. Orlando.

But we did a week at UO in August in 2017 (stayed at Cabana Bay which I loved) and it was fantastic. But I also don't mind cruising during huricane season in late August/early September

 

[pinkxray]

I know the feeling. We’ve basically stayed inside this entire time since last March. It’s really starting to get to me. We’ve been doing local hikes for now but even our small local zoo has been overrun lately with people on vacation so we stopped going. Dh and I have been talking about Disney though because we miss it so much. The prices seem pretty high even with the Florida resident discount

LOL. I would love a hike right now! We are in CT and just had 3 snowstorms in the last two weeks or so. So I am trapped inside with the kids who have online school except on the days I have to work at the hospital. Of course, the snow storms all fell on the days I work so I got to drive to/from work in the storms.
Maybe that is driving my need to go somewhere too. I’ll take a mask in July heat vs CT snow in Feb.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Yes, I’m doing about 10 transactions a day (5 per card). I’m at 30 on each card

Did you get an email or any confirmation when you reach the milestones they outlined?

 

[Haley R]

That stinks, you are in Florida and can’t get out much. I am in the frigid north, but we have more trees than people. My DH and I walk about 3 miles a day and rarely see another person, so at least we can go outside.

We do a lot of walks and stuff but we don’t really go many places besides that

 

[becauseimnew]

Did you get an email or any confirmation when you reach the milestones they outlined?

No

 

[disfanforlife]

We do a lot of walks and stuff but we don’t really go many places besides that

Ah ok. We don’t either.

 

[wanderlust7]

Did you get an email or any confirmation when you reach the milestones they outlined?

Just got an e-mail that I've earned bonus points, but I'm not sure if it's referring to the same promotion. I've done 20 so far. I also had a Hyatt charge on the statement that just closed, so maybe it's referring to the 4x?

 

[tink1970]

Did you get an email or any confirmation when you reach the milestones they outlined?

You do when you hit milestones with options-so at 40 nights they'll email you and ask you to choose one of the 3 options (gift certificate, points or credit towards a FIND experience). At 70, 80, 90 and 100 nights they'll email and ask you to chose between points or suite night award. I'm very familiar with this since I just hit 70 nights this year and ended 2020 with 123

 

[Crazed4DisneyinSC]

So I'm in Virginia and Florida is no worse than VA in the summer so I'm not too phased. My parents are in SW FL and their highs are typically at or below 90 (and never above 95) while we can have dreadful humid summers with stretches in the high 90s/over 100. Granted, being on the Gulf help Naples vs. Orlando.

But we did a week at UO in August in 2017 (stayed at Cabana Bay which I loved) and it was fantastic. But I also don't mind cruising during huricane season in late August/early September

Ok I don't know about Orlando in the summer but my two cents is this: I live in the "deep south" South Carolina, and our summers are also sticky hot and humid. But when we went to Key West last August, it was next level hot. It was 100-104 every day. Coming back to 95 degrees was a cool down for us, lol. So I don't know if the rest of Florida has similar summers to us, but definitely the keys do NOT.

 

[havaneselover]

Ok I don't know about Orlando in the summer but my two cents is this: I live in the "deep south" South Carolina, and our summers are also sticky hot and humid. But when we went to Key West last August, it was next level hot. It was 100-104 every day. Coming back to 95 degrees was a cool down for us, lol. So I don't know if the rest of Florida has similar summers to us, but definitely the keys do NOT.

That's super odd. The average high in Key West in August is 89. https://www.weather-us.com/en/florida-usa/key-west-weather-august#temperature

And I've read the highest temperature ever recorded was 94. Are you sure you aren't thinking of a heat index? Their climate is like Naples. It suprises me but it just doesn't get above 90 very often. The summer just lasts forever!

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Hopefully this is immaterial to everybody at this point, but... Southwest 80k Support Links are STILL Active!

This offer was supposed to expire on 2/8 but as usual the links live on... who knows for how long though!

 

[Hoosier John]

Motley Fool $99 credit posted to Amex on Feb 9th, and Chase Freedom says I have an extra 7500 URs points on my next statement!

And I've taken a couple of the stock picks from MF and am watching a couple more. Other than MF inundating my inbox, I like their service so far.