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

[AmyAnne]

We had a wonderful Utah National Park trip partially funded by this hobby.

Flights MIA -DFW-SLC, back from LAS direct to Miami: 20,500 AAmiles each plus $5.60. Originally we had a stop on the way back but AA moved us to a direct flight on our of their schedule shuffles. Thankfully, all our flights left on time and, miraculously arrived early. Points came from opening Barclay and Citi cards. Cash price was $420 (2.04cpp). We used the Centurion in Miami, the Priority Pass lounge in Dallas, and the Priority Pass and Centurion in Vegas. Each time, it saved me conservatively $50 and gave me status in the eyes of my kids.

Hotels
Home2Suites one night SLC - 30k HH

AirBnB Moab - $1,100 - $880 used PYB from CSR

Red Sands Motel, Torrey - one room with Cap1 travel credit, one using UR because the Cap1 portal wouldn't guarantee a 2-bed room that we needed.

Bryce Canyon Inn - $234 cash for a 2-bedroom, new cabin

Zion Park Lodge - 2 rooms for 3 nights $1,576. Absolutely gorgeous location, loved the craftsman style of the buildings, and the easy access to hiking trails. The rooms are old and a little musty and the wifi is terrible/nonexistent. This was the end of the trip and although the bad wifi came close to causing a mutiny, the Narrows hike and winning an Angels Landing day-before lottery saved the day.

Las Vegas - 2 rooms, 1 night at the Waldorf Astoria at 80k HH each. I figured that after 9 days of hiking and nature, my family would appreciate some luxury (and I needed it too!).

Rental car - Avis $1,458 for a minivan

Food for a family of 6 was $3,785 for 10 days. Our only splurge was a French restaurant in Vegas at the Venetian. I used PYB for about $1000.

We did a Dark Ranger Night tour as recommended by @wweazel and it was spectacular. Seeing the Milky Way arching over the sky and peeking into a telescope and seeing Saturn - Saturn! - clear as day reminded us of celestial wonders after so many days of earthly ones.

We also used Zion Adventures also as recommended by @wweazel for a canyoneering trip that pushed my husband to his limit but that my teens loved.

We all loved it much more than we thought. We had never done a trip like this with such little city time. My favorite hike was Mesa Arch in Canyonlands for the incredible vista on the other side but my 10 year old liked Delicate Arch and the bigger ones loved Angels Landing and the Narrows. We are from Florida so these vistas are completely new to us and we were oohing and aahing around every corner. Every single one of the 5 national parks is worth a visit, similar but different enough that you don't get bored. There were people doing hikes with small children and babies but I wouldn't do it unless the kids can hike too. While you can enjoy many views just from the car or short hikes to a viewpoint, the hikes add immeasurable enjoyment. Hikes are rated easy, moderate, and difficult but these Floridians found that many of the easy ones had uphill climbs that we weren't used to.

I don't think we would have ever done this trip without this group as I am the travel planner for our family perfectly happy going to Europe every year but all the trip reports and discussions encouraged me to get out of my comfort zone and book it. We ended up with no blisters, no chafing, no heat stroke (I worried alot about all of those) but I did bring Covid back with me with very mild symptoms (and thankful no one else got it). Definitely a trip of a lifetime made even more meaningful knowing that my 19 year old and 18 year old are reaching those ages where trips for the 6 of us will be more rare.

This sounds like a lovely trip. I'm curious how far in advance you needed to book the Zion Park Lodge and the ranger tour.

 

[wweazel]

I am pondering the Capital One Venture X card. For those of you who are familiar with this card, would you say that the benefits are worth the $395 AF? I see that there's a $300 annual statement credit but only for travel booked through the CapOne website.

I definitely get full value. I used my $300 for a Choice hotel in a remote town for a cousins wedding - price on C1 site was $3 less than Choice site, and a 1 way flight on AA - price was same as AA , and fully refundable. The credits appeared in my account within days of making the reservations. AND I could have used points to erase those charges as well, but I used them to erase Disney park tickets from UT. Points are credited to your account when the charges clear - you don't have to wait for the statement. I value the 2X everything for all of my non category spend, Priority Pass, and TSA credit.

 

[mamapenguin]

I am pondering the Capital One Venture X card. For those of you who are familiar with this card, would you say that the benefits are worth the $395 AF? I see that there's a $300 annual statement credit but only for travel booked through the CapOne website.

Yes, worth it. It’s easy to get the $300 credit, you can book a one way or round trip flight and you get the credit. I’m sure there are other easy ways. I prefer to book my airfare on a different card, but it was an easy $300. I kind of like the priority pass lounges, so that’s a plus.

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

I am pondering the Capital One Venture X card. For those of you who are familiar with this card, would you say that the benefits are worth the $395 AF? I see that there's a $300 annual statement credit but only for travel booked through the CapOne website.

What everyone else has commented has been spot on. I do think it's a keeper card for me. I like the 2x on everything and how quickly those points post.

 

[Crazed4DisneyinSC]

We had a wonderful Utah National Park trip partially funded by this hobby.

Flights MIA -DFW-SLC, back from LAS direct to Miami: 20,500 AAmiles each plus $5.60. Originally we had a stop on the way back but AA moved us to a direct flight on our of their schedule shuffles. Thankfully, all our flights left on time and, miraculously arrived early. Points came from opening Barclay and Citi cards. Cash price was $420 (2.04cpp). We used the Centurion in Miami, the Priority Pass lounge in Dallas, and the Priority Pass and Centurion in Vegas. Each time, it saved me conservatively $50 and gave me status in the eyes of my kids.

Hotels
Home2Suites one night SLC - 30k HH

AirBnB Moab - $1,100 - $880 used PYB from CSR

Red Sands Motel, Torrey - one room with Cap1 travel credit, one using UR because the Cap1 portal wouldn't guarantee a 2-bed room that we needed.

Bryce Canyon Inn - $234 cash for a 2-bedroom, new cabin

Zion Park Lodge - 2 rooms for 3 nights $1,576. Absolutely gorgeous location, loved the craftsman style of the buildings, and the easy access to hiking trails. The rooms are old and a little musty and the wifi is terrible/nonexistent. This was the end of the trip and although the bad wifi came close to causing a mutiny, the Narrows hike and winning an Angels Landing day-before lottery saved the day.

Las Vegas - 2 rooms, 1 night at the Waldorf Astoria at 80k HH each. I figured that after 9 days of hiking and nature, my family would appreciate some luxury (and I needed it too!).

Rental car - Avis $1,458 for a minivan

Food for a family of 6 was $3,785 for 10 days. Our only splurge was a French restaurant in Vegas at the Venetian. I used PYB for about $1000.

We did a Dark Ranger Night tour as recommended by @wweazel and it was spectacular. Seeing the Milky Way arching over the sky and peeking into a telescope and seeing Saturn - Saturn! - clear as day reminded us of celestial wonders after so many days of earthly ones.

We also used Zion Adventures also as recommended by @wweazel for a canyoneering trip that pushed my husband to his limit but that my teens loved.

We all loved it much more than we thought. We had never done a trip like this with such little city time. My favorite hike was Mesa Arch in Canyonlands for the incredible vista on the other side but my 10 year old liked Delicate Arch and the bigger ones loved Angels Landing and the Narrows. We are from Florida so these vistas are completely new to us and we were oohing and aahing around every corner. Every single one of the 5 national parks is worth a visit, similar but different enough that you don't get bored. There were people doing hikes with small children and babies but I wouldn't do it unless the kids can hike too. While you can enjoy many views just from the car or short hikes to a viewpoint, the hikes add immeasurable enjoyment. Hikes are rated easy, moderate, and difficult but these Floridians found that many of the easy ones had uphill climbs that we weren't used to.

I don't think we would have ever done this trip without this group as I am the travel planner for our family perfectly happy going to Europe every year but all the trip reports and discussions encouraged me to get out of my comfort zone and book it. We ended up with no blisters, no chafing, no heat stroke (I worried alot about all of those) but I did bring Covid back with me with very mild symptoms (and thankful no one else got it). Definitely a trip of a lifetime made even more meaningful knowing that my 19 year old and 18 year old are reaching those ages where trips for the 6 of us will be more rare.

This sounds like an amazing trip! We leave in a few days for our trip to Utah (Bryce & Zion), so it makes me even more excited! We have a Dark Ranger tour booked also, so it's really cool to hear about your experience with it! Glad to hear there were no hiccups with flights... that's my biggest concern at the moment.

 

[amcc]

This sounds like a lovely trip. I'm curious how far in advance you needed to book the Zion Park Lodge and the ranger tour.

I booked the Dark Ranger tour about a month out. We did do a ranger-led tour of Fiery Furnace in Arches that required booking on the day they were available (7 days before).

Zion Lodge I booked in October. I made a huge mistake and booked one of our rooms for November instead of August and I didn't notice till January! $500 loss that still hurts but I was able to book the other room and change the rooms I had booked from King to Queen in January. I would definitely stay here again despite the wifi because the location and setting is just that spectacular. The restaurant was very good and affordable and they had nice cocktails to sip on a terrace.

 

[newski_mom]

DH and I booked a last minute trip over Labor Day weekend - we are flying to Denver and taking the Zephyr train to San Francisco and then flying home from there. We will arrive in SF on Sunday evening and will only have one full day (Monday - Labor Day) there before flying home early afternoon.

We've been to SF two other times - first time stayed in the Nob Hill area, second time at Fisherman's Wharf. I had basically decided to book the Hyatt Regency on the Embarcadero using Hyatt points. I can't ever leave well enough alone and started thinking about our AmEx FHR and there are 3 hotels that qualify that don't cost a fortune in addition to the $200 credit. I read reviews on Trip Advisor and they seem decent, but I know so much has changed since covid and I don't know how they are now specifically.

They are Taj Campton Place, The Farimont (on Mason Street) and Palace Hotel (on Montgomery). It looks like the all have breakfast, so I guess we would get that for free booking it through AmEx, but not sure what we would spend the $100 credit on (not that it would really hurt if we lost it anyway).

Also, I assume we could book one night in my name and one in DH's to use both of our credits if we end up going with one of these hotels??

Thanks for any advice / opinions!

 

[RoseGold]

The SF Fairmont is an amazing property. I love it.

 

[Crazed4DisneyinSC]

This sounds like a lovely trip. I'm curious how far in advance you needed to book the Zion Park Lodge and the ranger tour.

We booked the Dark Ranger tour only a week in advance. You can check availability on their site, and see how many tickets are left for each date. It doesn't seem to "sell out" quickly, unless there is some phenomena attracting attention for that date.

 

[Albort]

Took the train to Edinburgh. All the trains from Kings Cross had been cancelled due to power lines on the tracks, so we had to head to Euston Station (with our luggage) and catch a Avanti West train. Our LNER train was only to take 4 hours 20 mins, but I think the Avanti West train took almost 6 hours. There were so many people packed on that train. Besides Harrods, definitely one of the most stressful times of the trip!

how early do they cancel your ticket? im looking into booking LNER but with all the strikes happening, im a little hesitant haha.

 

[elgerber]

how early do they cancel your ticket? im looking into booking LNER but with all the strikes happening, im a little hesitant haha.

in 2017, not sure which train, but we were leaving Edinburgh, in first class. We had our wine and beer and had ordered food, they cancelled our train before the food came. Said we had to go all the way across the station, to a different train immediately. We each took a few large gulps of our drinks, grabbed our luggage and power walked. And that train was packed full, and we got no seats. So first class, to standing the entire trip.

 

[mmmears]

DH and I have been looking for places to use our Hyatt Cat 1-4 FNCs, so we booked a one night stay at the Hyatt Regency Sonoma Wine Country. I really waffled on this one, because the reviews on both Google and TA are not very positive, but finally decided to just give it a try and I was pleasantly surprised. I guess it's good to go into things with low expectations. Honestly, it was nice but nothing spectacular, and definitely worth using up a FNC if you're interested in the area. We visited the Charles Schultz (Peanuts) Museum which was really cute and also did a wine pairing brunch at a really lovely vineyard.

Just wanted to share because I find it harder to find those decent 1-4 redemptions compared to the aspirational ones.

 

[RoseGold]

Just wanted to share because I find it harder to find those decent 1-4 redemptions compared to the aspirational ones.

I redeemed Hyatt Category 4 at Keystone Colorado. It was lovely in the summer, but it's phenomenal value in ski season.

 

[afan]

visited the Charles Schultz (Peanuts) Museum

That museum is so fun. I loved the comic strips on the tiles in the bathroom.

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

DH and I booked a last minute trip over Labor Day weekend - we are flying to Denver and taking the Zephyr train to San Francisco and then flying home from there. We will arrive in SF on Sunday evening and will only have one full day (Monday - Labor Day) there before flying home early afternoon.

We've been to SF two other times - first time stayed in the Nob Hill area, second time at Fisherman's Wharf. I had basically decided to book the Hyatt Regency on the Embarcadero using Hyatt points. I can't ever leave well enough alone and started thinking about our AmEx FHR and there are 3 hotels that qualify that don't cost a fortune in addition to the $200 credit. I read reviews on Trip Advisor and they seem decent, but I know so much has changed since covid and I don't know how they are now specifically.

They are Taj Campton Place, The Farimont (on Mason Street) and Palace Hotel (on Montgomery). It looks like the all have breakfast, so I guess we would get that for free booking it through AmEx, but not sure what we would spend the $100 credit on (not that it would really hurt if we lost it anyway).

Also, I assume we could book one night in my name and one in DH's to use both of our credits if we end up going with one of these hotels??

Thanks for any advice / opinions!

Haven't stayed at any of these, but this article's summary of the hotels might help, as each of your three choices has a spot on the list. https://theluxurytravelexpert.com/2021/03/08/top-10-best-hotels-san-francisco/

I tend to prefer a boutique hotel. And since you'd likely get a food and beverage credit, you may want to research the restaurants on site at each to help with your decision?

Yes, you can book one night in each of your names, assuming you are booking a FHR collection hotel. If you are booking a Hotel Collection, then I think you need two nights to get the $200 Amex credit. Request that the hotel link the reservations so that you don't have to check in and out. Because you are booking in two different names, you will likely each get the $100 hotel credit, but know that sometimes hotels don't like to do that if the reservations are linked.

Also, you might want to research any hotel fees if that helps narrow things down.

 

[wanderlust7]

DH and I have been looking for places to use our Hyatt Cat 1-4 FNCs, so we booked a one night stay at the Hyatt Regency Sonoma Wine Country. I really waffled on this one, because the reviews on both Google and TA are not very positive, but finally decided to just give it a try and I was pleasantly surprised. I guess it's good to go into things with low expectations. Honestly, it was nice but nothing spectacular, and definitely worth using up a FNC if you're interested in the area. We visited the Charles Schultz (Peanuts) Museum which was really cute and also did a wine pairing brunch at a really lovely vineyard.

Just wanted to share because I find it harder to find those decent 1-4 redemptions compared to the aspirational ones.

Good to know, thanks! I've looked at that one but was scared off by the reviews. Harder to use the cat 1-4 FNCs around here now that the Hyatt Regency Monterey and Hyatt Place Santa Cruz are cat 5. I've been trying to fit the FNCs into existing trips where I can.

 

[DrFacilier]

So, my Dad just applied for a CIU for my Mom using a referral from one of his cards. He called me to walk him through the app and everything sounded right. When he submitted the application he said the screen said “Offer Unavailable” but closed it before I asked him to screenshot it. Anyone have any ideas as to what might have happened? Hoping it was a mistake on his end. I was just auto-approved for a CIU last week with no issues.

 

[elgerber]

Good to know, thanks! I've looked at that one but was scared off by the reviews. Harder to use the cat 1-4 FNCs around here now that the Hyatt Regency Monterey and Hyatt Place Santa Cruz are cat 5. I've been trying to fit the FNCs into existing trips where I can.

I tell ya, hotel reviews are going to be the death of me LOL. I am making myself insane trying to choose a hotel in St. Pete/Clearwater beach area. One the cost, but two the reviews, every hotel has 5 star reviews and 1 star reviews on TripAdvisor calling them a dump.

 

[reliev]

I tell ya, hotel reviews are going to be the death of me LOL. I am making myself insane trying to choose a hotel in St. Pete/Clearwater beach area. One the cost, but two the reviews, every hotel has 5 star reviews and 1 star reviews on TripAdvisor calling them a dump.

ha what hotel?
the hyatt here is party central (not at the hyatt but around there)

 

[afan]

I tell ya, hotel reviews are going to be the death of me LOL. I am making myself insane trying to choose a hotel in St. Pete/Clearwater beach area. One the cost, but two the reviews, every hotel has 5 star reviews and 1 star reviews on TripAdvisor calling them a dump.

I look for a few things in these type of reviews. Is there a common theme, are the compliments all about similar things and complaints about similar things. If they do what are they and will it affect me.

Ex service is crap. Ok but if it's just rude fd people I don't really care. Needs reno, is it so worn out and bad or ac is noisy etc.

If it's complaints about bugs, what kind and are their external doors. I don't care how good your pest control is some bugs in places like FL and AZ are just going to happen. When it comes to cleanliness I take into account if it's a pattern or one person over reacting. Does food left in the fridge mean I don't want to stay there? No, happened at the centric sf on the wharf and you know what, I threw it out in a trash can in the hall and didn't complain. Really not a huge deal.

The other things I look for is did the complainer try and fix it with the hotel when they are there or are they just complaining later. And does the property respond to reviews and what is their response to them.

For the most part I don't read hotel reviews because I don't find them that helpful. I'd rather look at our hotel thread or ask on here as I'd get a more trusting answer. The entitlement that oozes from some of the reviews is insane.

Also, never read Amazon reviewa for things like fans and surge protectors. It's frightening. I've now gone with the, if I would buy it at target without reading reviews I will just find a brand I know and order it.