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

[*WDW*Groupie*]

I do plan to use points to pay for all airfare and hotels, but I've read that the trains and food are expensive. We are a family of 4 (kids are expensive), I'm currently thinking Tokyo (2.5), Disney (3.5 days), rest day, Kyoto (2 days) & Hiroshima (1.5 days). DH used to travel to Japan often when he was in the Navy and he would really love for us to climb Mount Fuji (2 days), he's already done it once. This will probably be our only trip to Japan, so we want to do as much as possible.

You could fly into Kyoto and take the Shinkansen to Hiroshima for the day (that's what we did, mind you we were with ABD, so they made the travel between points easy). I thought a day in Hiroshima was enough -- we saw all the main sites, stayed for the best okonomiyaki dinner at a local restaurant, then took the bullet train back to Kyoto. From Kyoto you can travel to Tokyo, then you're only taking the high speed train one way. Personally I'd allocate more than 2.5 days to Tokyo -- it's a HUGE city with so much to see and do. I am planning on taking dd back to Tokyo next year (on our Maldives trip number 3 -- hopefully this one will go -- and we are staying 5 nights, then heading on to Osaka for the Universal Park). Tokyo is an AMAZING city and we both really, really want to go back.

 

[LynnTH]

Jumping on the Europe talk. Thinking we might try and do a Europe trip in May/June 2023. Flexible on dates mid May to early June. DD will graduate college in May 2023 - so figure before she starts working we will try and get to Europe. We have always wanted to go but never have. This might be the only time for the 4 of us - since DS is already graduated and working - current job give him 17 vacation days a year. So, probably looking at a 2 week trip.

I realize that we will probably only get to hit like 3 countries - so we have ample time in each one. So, trying to figure out what ones we would want to do. So, trying to find areas that are closer together. Right now on my list is France (Paris of course), Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Czech Republic and Germany. Will need to narrow that down some.

First plan of attack is to figure out what airlines fly to these places and what would be the best (cheapest) airport to fly into from MSP. Looks like American, United and Delta are the main ones. Not going to look for First Class or anything like that. So any tips on this would be great. I have 1,000,000 UR's (but I like to hoard them...) Between the 4 of us we have 125,000 Delta points. Bummer you can't combine into 1 account so probably can't use all of those. Would like to not use my UR's for airfare if I can possibly get us other cards for that.

Don't have any MR's right now. Amex has not liked us much lately. Although DH did get an email for 150,000 MR's for the Platinum Card. But don't have anyway to meet the 15,000 spend. With Chase we can always Venmo and DD's college takes MC/Visa for Tuition but not AMEX.

Am I right that hotel rooms for 4 are not very common. So, should more look at Air BNB's or something like that?

I just ordered a Europe travel book from Amazon - should get today. Hoping that will help narrow down the areas to go to. Any suggestions on any of this would be most appreciated!!

 

[Alexle2007]

Fee free MCGCs at Staples this week if anyone needs them. For me, they cover tuition.

 

[Albort]

Jumping on the Europe talk. Thinking we might try and do a Europe trip in May/June 2023. Flexible on dates mid May to early June. DD will graduate college in May 2023 - so figure before she starts working we will try and get to Europe. We have always wanted to go but never have. This might be the only time for the 4 of us - since DS is already graduated and working - current job give him 17 vacation days a year. So, probably looking at a 2 week trip.

I realize that we will probably only get to hit like 3 countries - so we have ample time in each one. So, trying to figure out what ones we would want to do. So, trying to find areas that are closer together. Right now on my list is France (Paris of course), Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Czech Republic and Germany. Will need to narrow that down some.

First plan of attack is to figure out what airlines fly to these places and what would be the best (cheapest) airport to fly into from MSP. Looks like American, United and Delta are the main ones. Not going to look for First Class or anything like that. So any tips on this would be great. I have 1,000,000 UR's (but I like to hoard them...) Between the 4 of us we have 125,000 Delta points. Bummer you can't combine into 1 account so probably can't use all of those. Would like to not use my UR's for airfare if I can possibly get us other cards for that.

Don't have any MR's right now. Amex has not liked us much lately. Although DH did get an email for 150,000 MR's for the Platinum Card. But don't have anyway to meet the 15,000 spend. With Chase we can always Venmo and DD's college takes MC/Visa for Tuition but not AMEX.

Am I right that hotel rooms for 4 are not very common. So, should more look at Air BNB's or something like that?

I just ordered a Europe travel book from Amazon - should get today. Hoping that will help narrow down the areas to go to. Any suggestions on any of this would be most appreciated!!

J class, look into Iberia(Avios). fly into Spain, then either train to where u want and/or buy directly or use chase portal.
if Y class, look into chase portal with CSR.

 

[wanderlust7]

Got 30k retention on my Gold! AF hasn't posted yet, but I wanted to do it before the Schwab cash out goes down to 1.1 on Sept 1. Also figured since I got a good retention on my biz plat that I should do it sooner while they still like me lol.

Got transferred on chat, they didn't try to get me to call. I said I was thinking about canceling. I wonder if that's the key word, or maybe it just depends on the rep you get. I always do it around the same time - mornings Pacific on weekdays.

 

[LynnTH]

J class, look into Iberia(Avios). fly into Spain, then either train to where u want and/or buy directly or use chase portal.
if Y class, look into chase portal with CSR.

Is Spain one of the cheaper airports to fly into? I do think we will be using the train to get around.

 

[Albort]

Is Spain one of the cheaper airports to fly into? I do think we will be using the train to get around.

its one of the few airlines on chase that has lower points(around 36k 1 way) and lower taxes. i think its UA has them for 40k-50k one way. LH might charge u a bunch of taxes, BA would also if u fly into LHR.

 

[wanderlust7]

I do plan to use points to pay for all airfare and hotels, but I've read that the trains and food are expensive. We are a family of 4 (kids are expensive), I'm currently thinking Tokyo (2.5), Disney (3.5 days), rest day, Kyoto (2 days) & Hiroshima (1.5 days). DH used to travel to Japan often when he was in the Navy and he would really love for us to climb Mount Fuji (2 days), he's already done it once. This will probably be our only trip to Japan, so we want to do as much as possible.

Agree with @Haley R , we didn't find the food that expensive. Taxes are usually included in the price and no tipping, so we actually thought it was cheaper than eating out at home. If you can fly into Tokyo and out of Osaka (or vice versa), that would save on the shinkansen, which is expensive. TDR park tickets are also cheaper than the US parks.

 

[amcc]

Is Spain one of the cheaper airports to fly into? I do think we will be using the train to get around.

I use google flights to see prices - we usually let the prices dictate where we fly into for Europe and then rent a car or use trains. We are a family of 6 and look for cheap (economy class) airfare so I've booked through the Chase portal at 1.5. We've stayed at 3 AirBnb in France, and 3 in Germany. All of them have been fantastic and I don't see us ever doing a 2 week trip in hotels only. Read the airbnb reviews, google the neighborhoods and any hints you can find in the listing and reviews. We've stayed in an updated chateau, a medieval castle, and just having space, a balcony or outdoor space if we don't stay out late have been huge benefits to our vacations.

 

[Haley R]

I’ve seen a blog where they flew to Hiroshima and another where they took the train from Osaka.
Glad to hear it isn’t too expensive. I never realized 7-11 was so big in Japan.

We did the train everywhere. We flew into and out of Tokyo.

7-11 is huge there and they have good food! We did lots of meals from there

 

[trenty]

Back from 8 days at DW, paid for mostly with CC rewards:
Flights (SW) X4: only paid the 5.60 each way =44.80 {Cash value at time of booking $1184}
Rooms - DVC - so only the AF that we pay whether we go or not
Park Tickets - 3 paid for with Disney GC purchased with PYB, MRs and Discover cash back {Cash cost -$1800} (4th ticket was purchased by someone joining my family - so not my expense) -
Food/spending in parks for 4 people - Disney GC purchased with PYB, MRs and Discover cash back - $1700 - This includes 7TS meals, a few QS and a few random drinks here and there and a few souvenirs

OOP: 2 magic bands $20; Memory Maker $160 - both could have been paid for with "free" gift cards, but decided not to use more points for these. And we spent some cash for random things like tips, a few drinks, etc...probably around $300.

So OOP less than $600 total - most of which could have been covered with PYB if I really wanted.

ETA: I don't churn. I keep 5 cards that I use regularly to pay for just about everything. The past 6-8 months I added my Disney Visa to my mix for the 5x categories. So this is totally doable even for those of us who earn and burn slowly. My UR balance is still healthy and my MR balance is going back up quicker than I thought it would.

 

[2TxAgs]

Jumping on the Europe talk. Thinking we might try and do a Europe trip in May/June 2023. Flexible on dates mid May to early June. DD will graduate college in May 2023 - so figure before she starts working we will try and get to Europe. We have always wanted to go but never have. This might be the only time for the 4 of us - since DS is already graduated and working - current job give him 17 vacation days a year. So, probably looking at a 2 week trip.

I realize that we will probably only get to hit like 3 countries - so we have ample time in each one. So, trying to figure out what ones we would want to do. So, trying to find areas that are closer together. Right now on my list is France (Paris of course), Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Czech Republic and Germany. Will need to narrow that down some.

Am I right that hotel rooms for 4 are not very common. So, should more look at Air BNB's or something like that?

I just ordered a Europe travel book from Amazon - should get today. Hoping that will help narrow down the areas to go to. Any suggestions on any of this would be most appreciated!!

LynnTH - I love a travel planning challenge Will throw this out as a framework, based on the travels of my college-age children. Fly to Amsterdam...spend 2-3 days. Then to Prague for 3 nights. Vienna for 3 nights, Munich for 4 and finally Paris for 4 nights. A nice loop and you fly into/out of major airports with lots of connections (plane/train) to the other cities. Yes, you miss beautiful Italy and expensive Switzerland, but you'll get some of the beauty of those places to/from Vienna and Munich. These are very walkable cities, so if you find accomodations in town, you'll save time and money by being close. Have fun planning!!

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

You could fly into Kyoto and take the Shinkansen to Hiroshima for the day (that's what we did, mind you we were with ABD, so they made the travel between points easy). I thought a day in Hiroshima was enough -- we saw all the main sites, stayed for the best okonomiyaki dinner at a local restaurant, then took the bullet train back to Kyoto. From Kyoto you can travel to Tokyo, then you're only taking the high speed train one way. Personally I'd allocate more than 2.5 days to Tokyo -- it's a HUGE city with so much to see and do. I am planning on taking dd back to Tokyo next year (on our Maldives trip number 3 -- hopefully this one will go -- and we are staying 5 nights, then heading on to Osaka for the Universal Park). Tokyo is an AMAZING city and we both really, really want to go back.

You are torturing me, reminding me of our fabulous ABD trip. We still talk about that okonomiyaki! Even in a place with a very wide variety of food options like the San Francisco bay, we still haven't been able to find the Hiroshima style (with noodles) okonomiyaki. The food in Japan is amazing--some of the best meals we've ever had. We still talk about our meal at Jiro and the different ramen and udon places we ate at. We are anxious to get back to Tokyo again, too. I can't wait to plan another trip there.

 

[becauseimnew]

LynnTH - I love a travel planning challenge Will throw this out as a framework, based on the travels of my college-age children. Fly to Amsterdam...spend 2-3 days. Then to Prague for 3 nights. Vienna for 3 nights, Munich for 4 and finally Paris for 4 nights. A nice loop and you fly into/out of major airports with lots of connections (plane/train) to the other cities. Yes, you miss beautiful Italy and expensive Switzerland, but you'll get some of the beauty of those places to/from Vienna and Munich. These are very walkable cities, so if you find accomodations in town, you'll save time and money by being close. Have fun planning!!

That sounds like an amazing trip! I'm going to save this post! One day I'll make it to Europe.

 

[becauseimnew]

You could fly into Kyoto and take the Shinkansen to Hiroshima for the day (that's what we did, mind you we were with ABD, so they made the travel between points easy). I thought a day in Hiroshima was enough -- we saw all the main sites, stayed for the best okonomiyaki dinner at a local restaurant, then took the bullet train back to Kyoto. From Kyoto you can travel to Tokyo, then you're only taking the high speed train one way. Personally I'd allocate more than 2.5 days to Tokyo -- it's a HUGE city with so much to see and do. I am planning on taking dd back to Tokyo next year (on our Maldives trip number 3 -- hopefully this one will go -- and we are staying 5 nights, then heading on to Osaka for the Universal Park). Tokyo is an AMAZING city and we both really, really want to go back.

Thanks for the tip!

I'm so overwhelmed with Tokyo, I was originally planning 4 days there but then I got overwhelmed with all the big city touristy stuff that I decided to cut back to 2.5 days.

What are you top 5 things to do in Tokyo?

 

[afan]

Thanks for the tip!

I'm so overwhelmed with Tokyo, I was originally planning 4 days there but then I got overwhelmed with all the big city touristy stuff that I decided to cut back to 2.5 days.

What are you top 5 things to do in Tokyo?

That's a question that will get you do many different answers. Plus some stuff that was there before won't be there when you go.

I've read so many blogs and comments from here and a lot of the musts on other peoples list wouldn't even make my if I have time list. While so much of what's on my must list wouldn't make their if I have time list. And you don't even want to see my notecards.

At some point I'll start planning my days again but not until I actually know if I can go next Sept. I'll start booking in oct.

I still have a sticky to cancel my travel ins, been there since my flight got cancelled in June. I haven't wanted to deal with it since I figure there's no point. Guess I should call this week since it's supposed to start next week. Maybe I can change it to cover FL that's part of the original dates.

 

[afan]

Well that wasn't what I expected. Just applied for the aspire with a support link sent via pm on instagram and didn't go to a browser just clicked it in Instagram and applied. I was lazy and didn't log in since I would have had to turn my laptop on to get my password.

I didn't unfreeze anything since they normally don't do a hard pull once you have a card. Didn't get the popup but got a we're reviewing and will let you know if you need more info.

So is it because I didn't log in? I feel like I don't always log in when I apply. Or should I have unfrozen my cr? Not used to seeing people talk about this happening with amex because of the popup.

Guess I'll just wait for them to let me know...

Update just got the approval email!

 

[GZanta77]

LynnTH - I love a travel planning challenge Will throw this out as a framework, based on the travels of my college-age children. Fly to Amsterdam...spend 2-3 days. Then to Prague for 3 nights. Vienna for 3 nights, Munich for 4 and finally Paris for 4 nights. A nice loop and you fly into/out of major airports with lots of connections (plane/train) to the other cities. Yes, you miss beautiful Italy and expensive Switzerland, but you'll get some of the beauty of those places to/from Vienna and Munich. These are very walkable cities, so if you find accomodations in town, you'll save time and money by being close. Have fun planning!!

That would be a great trip - though based on my own experiences, I would be inclined to suggest Paris - Berlin - Prague - Vienna - Rome. I like Amsterdam, but I think the other cities have more 'Wow' factor, and personally Munich is OK, but Berlin I loved. I'm almost envious at the thought of planning such a trip - don't overlook the trains - especially in and out of Germany - Italy not so much.

 

[LilSweetPeaPhoto]

Finally got my IHG card. Only took 9 days! GRRRRRR! I could have been 1/2 way on the spend. Oh well. I can put my taxes on it and basically hit the spend, LOL.

 

[afan]

Forgot to post earlier. The last 2 nights of my Pop stay next month became available for the discount so I was able to have it switched from the rack rate I booked in March to the discount for all nights and get $267 back. Just have to watch my gc since she didn't know which it would go to so I loaded them back on to the gc site so I can watch for it. Should've asked how long it'll take but I'm guessing 3 to 7 days since it's Disney.