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

[havaneselover]

Thoughts on this Alaska itinerary? Would you choose late May or late June? It’s a smaller ship than we are used but I am thinking we are there to see Alaska and not the ship.
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Late June. I’ve only done stops 4 and 6 so I can’t comment on the itinerary.

 

[mmmears]

Thoughts on this Alaska itinerary? Would you choose late May or late June? It’s a smaller ship than we are used but I am thinking we are there to see Alaska and not the ship.
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I think I'd pick late June. We went with DCL in mid-June and it was really nice, but I wouldn't have minded if it had been a bit warmer. I think May will be quite cold.

 

[Alexle2007]

Late June. I’ve only done stops 4 and 6 so I can’t comment on the itinerary.

I think I'd pick late June. We went with DCL in mid-June and it was really nice, but I wouldn't have minded if it had been a bit warmer. I think May will be quite cold.

Thanks! Just requested quotes. It’s hard to justify the DCL pricing even with discounted GCs given it is double the price of RCCL. That will cover excursions and transportation.

 

[iujen94]

Thanks! Just requested quotes. It’s hard to justify the DCL pricing even with discounted GCs given it is double the price of RCCL. That will cover excursions and transportation.

For cruises, I LOVE cruise compete. Put in your cruise info, and TAs bid on your cruise. I have saved a TON.

 

[Alexle2007]

For cruises, I LOVE cruise compete. Put in your cruise info, and TAs bid on your cruise. I have saved a TON.

That’s exactly what I just did

 

[becauseimnew]

I just used the Chat feature in the Hyatt App and it was amazing, zero wait and didn't have to talk to people.
I needed to add a night to a reservation now that I had enough points for an additional night, I could have canceled and rebooked but this was easier.

 

[LilSweetPeaPhoto]

I'm totally reading the Hawaii chat. I skipped over it this summer, but I need to get planning on a trip for us this summer w/ my mom. She just did the 100k CSP sign up. Time to look into another good one for her for Hawaii. I guess maybe based on which hotels we might want to do. So time to start reading.

Busy week here. Harry Styles tonight for my 16yo (still have to buy tickets, lol) and Jimmy Buffett Thursday. Then it's off to NJ on Friday morning to see my sister for her 40th.

I'm trying to plan a weekend away w/ the BF and I'm struggling. I hate he gets his schedule so late in the month. Makes it every hard to plan a trip w/ little notice, unless we want to go where Spirit flies. Of course he can hop on any airline....GRRRR! I was thinking a long weekend in Napa/Sonoma would have been nice, but Spirit stopped direct flights there.

Are we just giving up on our amex dining credits from the beginning of the month? Mine from sept 3 still hasn't posted to my surpass.

Still need to pay cell phone, have those started working?

I gave up and used the card again and it credited right away.

 

[LynnTH]

I got an email from Delta yesterday to upgrade my business platinum amex card to the reserve card. It had this promotion:

Earn 60,000 Bonus Miles and a $300
Statement Credit
after you upgrade to the Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card and spend $4,000 in eligible purchases within the first six months of Card Membership

Is this a good deal? I'm thinking it's probably good to keep for a year? The $300 statement credit basically cancels the difference between the two cards. What's everyone's thought on this. I live in a Delta hub and have a few flights lined up. $4K spend for 6 months is definitely doable. I just did the CSR/CSP MDD and I don't think I will be opening any cards anytime soon.

I recently got this offer. But was 50,000 points with $200 Statement Credit. Spend $3000 in 3 months. I took the offer as AMEX had blocked us from new cards for a while. Haven't tried lately but figured this was a way to get more points without opening a new card or getting the dreaded pop up!!

 

[Judique]

Son and daughter in law are off to Maui this morning after their wedding this weekend.

All went well, it was a beautiful micro wedding!

 

[catsinawindow]

Does anyone know if there are typical times when Southwest offers better SUB on its rewards codes? I'm planning to refer P2 for a Southwest rewards card at some point, but I know that the current 40,000 RR points is lower than the 65,000 when I opened my card. I'm looking to collect more RR for booking flights in the next Southwest drop in a few months, but I'd rather wait for a better SUB if it might be coming soon.

Tangentially related, Southwest is currently having a 40% RR points sale. Is this deal any good moneywise?

 

[catsinawindow]

Son and daughter in law are off to Maui this morning after their wedding this weekend.

All went well, it was a beautiful micro wedding!

Congratulations to you and your son! What a lovely picture, your DIL's dress is stunning!

 

[Judique]

Congratulations to you and your son! What a lovely picture, your DIL's dress is stunning!

Thank you!

 

[LynnTH]

We did a late May Med cruise with DCL in 2010. It was a great time to travel, as weather was not so incredibly hot as it can be later in the summer. DD was almost 15 at the time, DS was turning 13 and moody. While we did most excursions with DH, some of my best times were with just DD (my mini me) and I, shopping on our own in Mediterranean ports while DH and DS went back to the ship after we did sightseeing. DD and I have done several trips together (NYC multiple times, Caribbean cruise on DCL, and a trip to Ireland) throughout her teen years. Enjoy your trip with you and your DD!

Jumping in here. We are looking at Europe for May/June 2023, when DD graduates from college. It would most likely be my family of 4 plus my brother, sil and niece and other brother and sil. Kids are all adults in their 20's. Originally we were just going to go to a few countries, but now am leaning more towards a cruise. Mediterranean is one of the possibilities (waiting for all the cruise lines to release the 2023 Europe cruises). What cruiseline did you go on and where did you fly into. Trying to get some miles for airlines ( I have plenty of UR"s but am trying not to use them for air if I don't have too - was thinking maybe United or AA??

 

[LynnTH]

Hi everyone! I’ve been here before, but then our trip got put on hold. We are now figuring it all out again and I’d love some opinions about if it’s worth opening another card for some more points.

P1:
02/19 – Barclay Arrival +
05/21 – Chase Sapphire Preferred
I also have a Chase Freedom but it’s been 6 years. I don’t remember the exact open date anymore.
P2:
07/21 – Chase Sapphire Preferred
He also has a Discover it card, but it’s be 6-7 years as well.

Monthly spend: $2500-2700. We don’t have a FF miles program or a hotel rewards program. We’ve only done cashback cards in the past.
Our current goal is to get as much off of a big family Disney trip in November 2022 with myself, my husband, our three young kids, my sister and my parents. The total cost of the room & tickets right now is around $12k – which I know we will not get ALL paid for by points. We just want to take as much off the top as possible. My sister also opened a CSP with my referral code and will use the points toward the trip, but I don’t think she is interested in doing anymore past this. We haven’t combined my husband’s CSR and mine yet, but I’ve heard that’s a possibility to make things easier for redeeming down the road. We also have not figured out what cards we want to use as our “main cards” once we are done collecting the points that we can, so if you have an opinion about that, I'd love to hear it. I'll honestly probably close some of the extra cards after we pay for the trip (but we will keep our 6-7 year old cards open).

edited to add - we do not own a business. That's probably helpful information, too! So I can't do the business cards.

Did you say you have the CSR also (not just the CSP). If so, I would combine all UR points from you and DH into one account (easier that way) and then use PYB at Grocery Stores/Home Improvement stores to buy Disney Gift Cards. Then use PYB to erase the charges. I have been doing this with Disney and Carnival Gift Cards.

If you have CSR then $1000 worth of Gift Cards would cost you 66,666 in UR's. With the CSP it would be 80,000 points to use. Right now this is only available until the end of September to do (unless Chase extends it but have not heard yet). This is probably the best way to get some sort of Disney Discount.

 

[becauseimnew]

Does anyone know if there are typical times when Southwest offers better SUB on its rewards codes? I'm planning to refer P2 for a Southwest rewards card at some point, but I know that the current 40,000 RR points is lower than the 65,000 when I opened my card. I'm looking to collect more RR for booking flights in the next Southwest drop in a few months, but I'd rather wait for a better SUB if it might be coming soon.

Tangentially related, Southwest is currently having a 40% RR points sale. Is this deal any good moneywise?

A better SUB usually comes around October, but you could totally refer P2 for a Biz card, you'll earn 20K RRs and the SUB is decent.

 

[wanderlust7]

Got the pop-up for the first time. On a BBP with support. I had a feeling it was coming since I haven't been keeping up with spend. It was part of the reason I wanted to get the card (would rather have the spend go towards a MSR).

So decided to try the targeted BBP offer that I've been getting on and off - 50k for $15k spend over a year. Was approved for that. Whew! Going to spread that out over the entire year, hope that keeps Amex happy!

@LilSweetPeaPhoto So there's a DP for you! I still couldn't find the offer in my account, but using DoC's link worked.

https://www.doctorofcredit.com/ymmv-american-express-blue-business-plus-50000-points-signup-bonus/

 

[sinnika]

Jumping in here. We are looking at Europe for May/June 2023, when DD graduates from college. It would most likely be my family of 4 plus my brother, sil and niece and other brother and sil. Kids are all adults in their 20's. Originally we were just going to go to a few countries, but now am leaning more towards a cruise. Mediterranean is one of the possibilities (waiting for all the cruise lines to release the 2023 Europe cruises). What cruiseline did you go on and where did you fly into. Trying to get some miles for airlines ( I have plenty of UR"s but am trying not to use them for air if I don't have too - was thinking maybe United or AA??

We sailed on DCL. We did 10 night Med cruises in May 2010 and June 2011. It was right after the recession and DCL was offering lots of deals back then. Our kids were teens at the time, but we just sailed Alaska in August 2019 and they are in their 20's now and we still really enjoy DCL. We have not sailed with any other cruise line so can't give you comparisons. The Mediterranean cruises are so port intensive, so it is hard to justify the extra expense if you are looking to save money. We flew into Paris on the 1st cruise to visit the city as well as Normandy, and did an overnight train to Barcelona. Second time, we flew directly to Barcelona. Paid for airfare as I did not know anything about flyer miles or hotel miles back then! And silly me, I used several hundred thousand MR's on gift cards back then!

 

[LynnTH]

We sailed on DCL. We did 10 night Med cruises in May 2010 and June 2011. It was right after the recession and DCL was offering lots of deals back then. Our kids were teens at the time, but we just sailed Alaska in August 2019 and they are in their 20's now and we still really enjoy DCL. We have not sailed with any other cruise line so can't give you comparisons. The Mediterranean cruises are so port intensive, so it is hard to justify the extra expense if you are looking to save money. We flew into Paris on the 1st cruise to visit the city as well as Normandy, and did an overnight train to Barcelona. Second time, we flew directly to Barcelona. Paid for airfare as I did not know anything about flyer miles or hotel miles back then! And silly me, I used several hundred thousand MR's on gift cards back then!

Thanks. I know we won't be sailing DCL. Been looking at different itineraries but not all of the cruise lines have them out for 2023 yet. Trying to be patient, but I am not very good at that. At least if I know what cruise we will take, then I know what port we are sailing out of. So many awesome options!!

 

[catsinawindow]

A better SUB usually comes around October, but you could totally refer P2 for a Biz card, you'll earn 20K RRs and the SUB is decent.

October would definitely work for us, I'll probably hold out until then to see if the SUB is better. P2 is reluctant to sign up for any business cards, so I don't think he'd be comfortable going that route.

 

[pinkxray]

I finally got a break at work and just called DVC. I was able to book the rest of our April stay in Aulani.

We are all booked for 2 nights at Embassy Suites Waikiki followed by 7 nights at Aulani.

I can’t wait! My main objective is to relax at the pool with a few activities thrown in.