I love credit cards so much! v5.0 - 2022 (see first page for add'l details)

[ten6mom]

I had my TSA precheck appointment on Tuesday afternoon and I received my email on Wednesday that I had been deemed eligible, so that's good! (I do have fingerprints on file in my state already due to work so I am sure that helped).

I don't fly much but I thought I'd give it a try and it might come in handy!

 

[becauseimnew]

Does anyone have suggestions for points/miles for a trip to Ireland?

In the last year we opened 2 CSP, 2 AMEX Delta (Gold/Reserve), Citi Premier, Chase Bonvoy, SWA Biz (earned CP). We're using these points for a trip to Hawaii in March 2023.

I'm planning for 2024 so hopefully have enough time to earn points/miles.

Thanks!

You can book using Avíos, Aer Lingus releases 5 economy seats, no business from my research.
URs and MRs transfer to avíos.

 

[EACarlson]

I had my TSA precheck appointment on Tuesday afternoon and I received my email on Wednesday that I had been deemed eligible, so that's good! (I do have fingerprints on file in my state already due to work so I am sure that helped).

I don't fly much but I thought I'd give it a try and it might come in handy!

Flying out of MCO just once makes it worth it. I'll never be without it again, especially since I have a credit card that pays for it.

 

[570traveler]

I have to make reservations for black sand beach on Road to Hana… what time should I select 10-12:30pm or 12:30-3pm… we plan to hit the road at about 7am. What would be best?

We are doing this in early June. Luckily my SIL is flying over from Oahu so we can go in anytime. I would pick the later time. That will give you more time to see things on the way. I’ve read that many places close up earlier so you might miss those on the way back if you took the earlier time.

 

[wanderlust7]

I think you have to be 18 to have a PP membership.

Oops, good point! Was only considering minimum age for AU and completely didn't think about minimum age for PP!

@FreeDiningFanatic @Jax1023 Scratch that idea of adding kids!

 

[EACarlson]

Stupid question for those that fly United regularly. I have a $200 travel certificate due to how badly United screwed up my bags on my way to Vegas for work in April. If I use that and pay cash for the remainder of the flight what happens if I have to cancel? I'm assuming the cash portion becomes a travel credit, how long is it good for? Does anything weird happen to the travel credit I already have?

 

[papaof3]

Oops, good point! Was only considering minimum age for AU and completely didn't think about minimum age for PP!

@FreeDiningFanatic @Jax1023 Scratch that idea of adding kids!

Depends on how old they look. No ID check by PP. My tall 16 year old might have a PP card. Obviously if young this won’t fly.

 

[GZanta77]

Depends on how old they look. No ID check by PP. My tall 16 year old might have a PP card. Obviously if young this won’t fly.

Boarding Pass might be a giveaway?

 

[mmmears]

Cruise is over It was amazing. About 1200 passnegers and 1000 crew members. Excellent service. Favorite day was Rome followed by Capri/Sorrento/Pompeii.

Boarding was a mess. DCL had computer problems. Then the covid results were emailed to you. Of course their wifi didn't work and many didn't have service. The sweet family we sat next to had a positive test, retested, and couldn't board. Had come from TX. My worst nightmare. We had an arrival time of 11:30 and were onboard by 2 so not terrible but it was very stressful at the time.

Waiting for our flight to London. Tonight we go to Mama Mia and tomorrow we have a full day tour. Praying for negative covid results Sunday night.

So glad you had such a nice time on your cruise. I know you've had to wait a long time for this one. I'm booking one for 2023, so I'd love to hear about what you did in those ports when you have time. Have a fantastic time in London and I hope you get those negative tests on Sunday so you can fly home.

 

[Albort]

I had my TSA precheck appointment on Tuesday afternoon and I received my email on Wednesday that I had been deemed eligible, so that's good! (I do have fingerprints on file in my state already due to work so I am sure that helped).

I don't fly much but I thought I'd give it a try and it might come in handy!

there has never been a time where precheck did not help.

clear is a different story...

 

[travelbug]

I'm looking for a recommendation for a CC that gives decent rewards for travel, but is not brand specific. I already have the Delta Gold AmEx, Marriott Chase Visa, and Disney Chase Visa. Whenever I had travel expenses that fell outside those brands, I used to use my Sam's Club MC which offered 3% for travel. They recently reduced it to 1%. I never carry a balance and my credit score is routinely 800+. I haven't applied for a CC in over 2 years. Any suggestions for me? Thank you!

 

[afan]

I'm looking for a recommendation for a CC that gives decent rewards for travel, but is not brand specific. I already have the Delta Gold AmEx, Marriott Chase Visa, and Disney Chase Visa. Whenever I had travel expenses that fell outside those brands, I used to use my Sam's Club MC which offered 3% for travel. They recently reduced it to 1%. I never carry a balance and my credit score is routinely 800+. I haven't applied for a CC in over 2 years. Any suggestions for me? Thank you!

It depends on what you're goal is with what you earn. It's not just that you earn x% more on points paying for travel, what do you plan to do with those points?

I think it would be helpful to read post 2 if you haven't to see what more will help. There's too many questions or too broad of answers to give you something that makes sense. General answers of one of the chase saphires or an amex of some flavor is fine but knowing your spend, what you want to do, are you willing to pay an af etc will get you a far better answer that will suit your needs vs something you get and then realize it won't actually work.

 

[havaneselover]

So glad you had such a nice time on your cruise. I know you've had to wait a long time for this one. I'm booking one for 2023, so I'd love to hear about what you did in those ports when you have time. Have a fantastic time in London and I hope you get those negative tests on Sunday so you can fly home.

I only did Disney excursions. I'm too nervous to book privately when I don't know the language and am worried about not getting back before the ship leaves. Also I had a ton of Disney gift cards to use. Most of the tours were 25-35 people which is a little on the high side (someone always needs to find a bathroom or forgot something somewhere so you end up waiting a lot). In Naples we did a Pompeii, Sorrento, and Capri excursion. Everything was fabulous. Great guide, great places to visit.

In Rome we booked the Best of Rome. Our guide works for the Vatican so she was very knowledgeable. The line to get into St. Peter's was too long but we walked around Vatican City and went into the Vatican Museum. It was packed but thankfully we were able to get into the Sistine Chapel. Then Trevi fountain and walk to the Colosseum and go inside. This was by far our favorite day.

In Florence we did a Florence and Pisa tour. Guide was great but tour was just okay--here's the cathedral, let me walk you around and tell you where to shop, lunch on your own, then off to Pisa.

Our cruise stopped in Cannes so we did Monaco, Monte Carlo and Eze. Eze is charming and was a fun stop. Monaco was beautiful but there's not much to do after you see the palace and Grace Kelly's tomb IMO. Monte Carlo was off limits because of the Grand Prix.

All of our tours were full days (7-6), so tiring and back to back. Thankfully we had late dining. If I had it to do over I might have done a half day tour at the last port (Cannes).

 

[havaneselover]

The London Edition is a true gem. Great location, historic building, really nice-sized rooms. I think I used 120k Marriott points for two nights--so worth it.

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

I have to make reservations for black sand beach on Road to Hana… what time should I select 10-12:30pm or 12:30-3pm… we plan to hit the road at about 7am. What would be best?

Another vote for the later slot, 12:30-3. Everything does take longer than you think it will. It's nice that the window is so big though. If you haven't looked into the Shaka app, another vote for that. The Shaka app puts black sand beach as stop 21 out of 30, just before Hana Town. So if by chance you get to black sand beach early, you could always lunch in Hana Town and backtrack to black sand beach or do it on the way back. All of this assumes you are doing the class route and not the reverse route.

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

I'm looking for a recommendation for a CC that gives decent rewards for travel, but is not brand specific. I already have the Delta Gold AmEx, Marriott Chase Visa, and Disney Chase Visa. Whenever I had travel expenses that fell outside those brands, I used to use my Sam's Club MC which offered 3% for travel. They recently reduced it to 1%. I never carry a balance and my credit score is routinely 800+. I haven't applied for a CC in over 2 years. Any suggestions for me? Thank you!

Assuming you don't have another Sapphire product (let us know if you do), I'd recommend the Chase Sapphire Preferred. It has a really NICE SUB right now at 80k points for a $4k/3 month MSR. This special SUB is ending in just a few days, on 6/1. You'll earn Chase UR which are very flexible to transfer to travel partners or you can use them through the Chase Travel portal. It actually earns a decent rate, 3x, on dining, groceries and streaming services if you have spend in that area. There's an annual fee of $95 but that's offset by the benefits and this nice sign up bonus, which is worth at least $1,000.

This sign up is really so good that if you have another member of your family, I'd recommend they also sign up for the card, if your family has enough spend for 2 cards. You sign up first, then create a support link and get an extra 15k UR points if they are approved using your support link. If you want to go this route, I wouldn't dally, given that this offer is ending on 6/1.

 

[travelbug]

It depends on what you're goal is with what you earn. It's not just that you earn x% more on points paying for travel, what do you plan to do with those points?

I think it would be helpful to read post 2 if you haven't to see what more will help. There's too many questions or too broad of answers to give you something that makes sense. General answers of one of the chase saphires or an amex of some flavor is fine but knowing your spend, what you want to do, are you willing to pay an af etc will get you a far better answer that will suit your needs vs something you get and then realize it won't actually work.

I'm sorry, you're right. There is information I failed to include. My apologies, and also my thanks for your nice reply and willingness to try to help. I'll include more info in my reply below. Thanks again.

Assuming you don't have another Sapphire product (let us know if you do), I'd recommend the Chase Sapphire Preferred. It has a really NICE SUB right now at 80k points for a $4k/3 month MSR. This special SUB is ending in just a few days, on 6/1. You'll earn Chase UR which are very flexible to transfer to travel partners or you can use them through the Chase Travel portal. It actually earns a decent rate, 3x, on dining, groceries and streaming services if you have spend in that area. There's an annual fee of $95 but that's offset by the benefits and this nice sign up bonus, which is worth at least $1,000.

This sign up is really so good that if you have another member of your family, I'd recommend they also sign up for the card, if your family has enough spend for 2 cards. You sign up first, then create a support link and get an extra 15k UR points if they are approved using your support link. If you want to go this route, I wouldn't dally, given that this offer is ending on 6/1.

This is great information, and I really appreciate it. I do not have a Sapphire product, so will definitely look into this. It would only be me getting a card. I was thinking of a basic cash back option, which I would direct to my ongoing travel savings, but it sounds like I may be missing out on some better usage of points that could be had via travel partners or the Chase travel portal. I need to dig into those, since I clearly have a lot to learn.

What got me wondering about a new CC option is the fact that I'm getting ready to sign up for a group trip to Israel that will cost about $4200 plus some possible upgrades I may add on. If I run the expense through my Discover card or Disney Visa, for example, I would only get 1% in earnings. My Sam's Club MC used to offer 3% cash back for travel, but that's now 1% as well. So I thought it would be great to earn a better return than 1% and maybe get in on a signup incentive. (I apologize for not including this info in my original question.)

Thanks so much for your reply. I'll look into the Chase Sapphire Preferred right away, since the SUB ends in a few days.

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

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Use code: MMDVISA5

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

I'm sorry, you're right. There is information I failed to include. My apologies, and also my thanks for your nice reply and willingness to try to help. I'll include more info in my reply below. Thanks again.

This is great information, and I really appreciate it. I do not have a Sapphire product, so will definitely look into this. It would only be me getting a card. I was thinking of a basic cash back option, which I would direct to my ongoing travel savings, but it sounds like I may be missing out on some better usage of points that could be had via travel partners or the Chase travel portal. I need to dig into those, since I clearly have a lot to learn.

What got me wondering about a new CC option is the fact that I'm getting ready to sign up for a group trip to Israel that will cost about $4200 plus some possible upgrades I may add on. If I run the expense through my Discover card or Disney Visa, for example, I would only get 1% in earnings. My Sam's Club MC used to offer 3% cash back for travel, but that's now 1% as well. So I thought it would be great to earn a better return than 1% and maybe get in on a signup incentive. (I apologize for not including this info in my original question.)

Thanks so much for your reply. I'll look into the Chase Sapphire Preferred right away, since the SUB ends in a few days.

Okay, so most of us would cringe at a big expense like that and only earning 1% (hell, even 5%), when you could be earning a big SUB like $1,000 on a $4,000 spend. That's 25%! So kudos to you for thinking you could do a little better, and you are right, you can. There is a lot to learn with this game, but you're on the right track, doing your research. Good luck.

 

[ladyderks]

Good morning! Just booked Cabana Bay through the Chase Rewards portal (using points, or I would have booked direct). I have my reservation # through the portal, but this is obviously not a reservation number I can use to look up the res in Universal/Loews system. Am I able to call and get the actual reservation number? I basically just want to confirm the reservation went through, and add my kids to it. Thanks in advance!