I love credit cards so much! v6.0 - 2023 & 2024 (see first page for add'l details)

[reliev]

I totally feel your pain with the mom stuff. Our first trip to WDW was our family of 3, my sisters family of 5 and my mom, 100% arranged by me. Literally they gave me their cc and I did the rest. My mom has oxygen and can't walk far, so I arranged oxygen for the flight, oxygen for WDW, scooter for WDW, wheelchair in the airports while wrangling then 4 yo DS. Plus I'd had knee surgery the previous year and still walk with a limp. My mom with the questions and requests in the airport and at the resort. DH and I vowed never to travel with anyone outside immediate family after that.
LoveTripIt app. Put it on DH phone but asking me is, apparently, still easier.

Ya so far have booked Liberia to Andaz resort transfer, Andaz to Los Altos transfer, and an adventure day (tubing, zip line, hot springs) with a private guide; and a private sunset boat cruise in Manuel Antonio/Quepos. I will for sure report back if I live thru it.

what does the boat cruise run? i never saw this when i emailed them. I guess i should ask. or is that the other hotel?

 

[Judique]

Got back Sunday from my 5th and (hopefully) final trip to Halifax since September. Dd is now happily at school in rural Nova Scotia to finish her undergrad in BioVeterinary Sciences. She has 12 credits left and should graduate in December, 2024.

We flew AC economy class because with all these trips no way was I going to spend the points on biz class. They use their older planes to fly this route and we were in the preferred seating of economy class, so the seats were big and had enough leg room.

Stayed at the Delta Dartmouth (booked 2 queen room) and was upgraded to a very spacious 1 bedroom suite, which was very nice. I would definitely stay here again. Breakfast was nothing special, but it was free as a plat, so no complaints. I am frustrated because the guy at the desk when I checked in didn't know how to take the cc that I used to secure the booking off the reservation and apply my Bonvoy AmEx; the stay still hasn't posted in my Marriott account, nor have any room charges posted on either cc.

I booked my rental car with Alamo (through Costco) and was upgraded from regular SUV to a Mercedes SUV, which was nice!

Heading to Cabo on Monday for 4 nights (3 nights points, 1 night FNC from dd's Surpass SUB last spring), looking forward to the trip!

I checked Chase rewards portal yesterday and see that I have 92k point pending for my November CIC! Yay! Once I pay dd's tuition and part of her res I will have another 90k. With property taxes coming due in the spring I will be looking for another AmEx card I think (just don't see anything that interests me). Or I may wait 90 days and do another CIC.

My AmEx plat AF should post on my next statement. I will try for another retention offer -- since I've gotten them the last 2 years not sure if I will get anything or not!

You could try changing the credit card in your profile since nothing has posted yet. It's all the way at the bottom under payment preferences.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

what does the boat cruise run? i never saw this when i emailed them. I guess i should ask. or is that the other hotel?

Private cruise booked thru Chase portal.
https://www.aquaquepos.com/cruises

 

[iujen94]

i get different (better IMO) offers on my AmEx Marriott Biz than on the BCP.

I used 2 35K rewards plus some points to stay at the Swan in Dec. Worth it to me, i thin the rooms were 43,000 and 44,000 so the points were not much over 35,000.

Dang, I can’t believe you found rooms under 50k. I’ve been dying to use my 35k cert there but rooms constantly seem to be 58k+

 

[georgina]

Dang, I can’t believe you found rooms under 50k. I’ve been dying to use my 35k cert there but rooms constantly seem to be 58k+

It was a Sunday and Monday night, maybe that was it. Just looked, it's 41,000 for tonight and tomorrow, 42,000 for Thursday. I was starting to sweat a bit, because the Marriott free night credited to my account immediately on my card anniversary, but it took 2 full months for the AmEx free night to show up, and the points rate was creeping up.

 

[mmmears]

This here puts me off ever traveling there. Misrepresenting as airport workers and telling you you're going the wrong way. Too much stress for me.

It isn't bad there at all. We just went for the first time in December and didn't have any issues.

Yes! Just about to comment that this freaks me out, especially traveling with my kids! I have a hard enough time keeping an eye on them in US airports. I don't want a stranger luring them away in a foreign airport.

Like I said above, it was a non-issue for us. I had the hotel arrange for transportation, so they warned us not to talk to anyone and to just go outside and look for the WA rep, which we did. I guess we looked like we knew what we were doing, because nobody tried to talk to us.

My DH is like this. One time we were transiting in Germany on the way to Greece. We got separated at border control and when the agent asked him where he was going, he was like I need to ask my wife lol.

My DH is the same. More than once, when asked questions by customs or security, he starts giving out either misinformation or he just looks confused. I have to step in and tell them that I'm the planner and he doesn't know where we are going or where we are staying.

 

[Crazed4DisneyinSC]

yes i emailed them last night right after i saw the hotel tour on youtube, i know i have a travel problem. the only issue i have with it is they want it 9am the day before so I guess I could do it one of 2 ways pack the bag the day before or pack it the day I leave and not have a bag a day.

When are you going again? Curious if it’s before/after us. If before, I can’t wait to read a trip report! We’ll be there mid may.

 

[wanderlust7]

yeah, I just arranged this with both hotels they are charging about 4k yen a bag to me its worth it. 500 yen is great the hotel im going to inquire but they want 4k a bag and i need it there by 9 am the day before my departure. its making me debate bringing back a wine suitcase or not (to fill up with Japanese whiskey lol)

I think the cost is pretty standard. Not sure if it differs by the delivery company much, but there's a chart based on size and distance. Next day arrival is standard, probably there's an additional charge for expedited. I'm not sure by what time since I usually use it to have the checked luggage bypass the short stops, so I've never cared. The 500 yen cost I mentioned is the Hilton Tokyo Bay surcharge in additional to the standard charge. The service is cheap but it's not <$4 cheap lol.

It was 2180 yen to send a checked bag from the Andaz Tokyo to Osaka. They put it on my folio and it earned Hyatt points. I believe most places take cash only.

Did you just email them? We’re going in may… I’m wondering if I can just arrange at the hotels (Hyatt and Crowne Plaza) when we check in…

No need to prearrange. You can just do it when you check out.

 

[djmeredith]

I helped my mother accumulate URs to use towards an extended family WDW trip in April 2020 - we all know what happened there. I kept working on the URs thinking we would eventually go. So now me, DH and kids along with my two sisters are going in April and she’s doesn’t want to go, but wants us to use the URs. (I have tried countless times to convince her to come or just get the cash back for the URs to use for something else, but she insists we use them for the trip.)

She has $4k worth of URs. So my question is what’s the best way for me to use them. We all (7 of us) have flights on SW covered by points. We are staying on property - 2 rooms at Beach Club.
I‘d been planning on using her card (chase FU - only chase card she has now) to put payments towards the rooms and just getting a straight up credit. I know it’s the worst value, but also simple.

Is there a better approach I should consider?

I recently posted that my dad was able to transfer his UR to me even though we are not in the same household. If you can get that to work for you, you could just transfer the UR and bank them. Those points could be considered a replacement for the points you have already used for your flights. If you want to try the transfer, she just needs your UR cc number and then she can call and ask them to transfer. I wasn't with my dad when he called but he just told them he wanted to transfer points to his daughter and they didn't ask anything else except my card number.

 

[DogCat]

I received our expedited CIC cards today! Perfect timing to hit up Staples tomorrow LOL. And, sticking to my NY resolution, I am going to plan my next card app before I hit the spend on this one.

 

[Sheree]

Who has done the Hilton Vacation Package where they try to sell you a timeshare in exchange for 150,000 points? DH and I are thinking about doing this (specifically, the resort in Scottsdale AZ) and would love to hear from someone who has done it. There is zero chance that we will be tricked into buying the timeshare but we've wanted to visit AZ and $299 plus 150,000 Hilton points for 4 nights seems like a good deal.

we did Myrtle Beach. but only got 20k points! nice quick vacation, nicew hotel on the beach. presentation was a bit long, especially after we said o!

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

I love TripIt. I've added it to DH's phone and he used it when we were in Paris. It was nice not having everyone ask me what was next.
I haven't shared the app with our kids because we like to keep some trips secrete until closer to the date. And sometimes I'll just book flights and hotel because I have the points but then it doesn't work out with our schedule.

Not sure how much freedom your kids have with accounts, but rather than sharing your TripIt login, you can invite them to see or add to the individual itinerary. I think you send an invite to their email and then they'd have their own TripIt login. I too don't share/invite until my itineraries are more together and it's a for sure go. Right now I have four future plans in TripIt and I asked my DH how many are showing for him and he said none. So I guess I haven't invited him yet

 

[djmeredith]

@LilSweetPeaPhoto I feel your pain about the points required for Delta. I need to book my pre and post Europe positioning flights to/from NYC. Mine are also 19K one way. I only paid 30K for my AMS-JFK KLM ticket in Premium Comfort class.

 

[Crazed4DisneyinSC]

.But I swear, TripIt the app has been super helpful. It's really easy to just forward email confirmations to TripIt and it gets filed in the Itinerary. All the travel plans go in there and there's even an iPhone widget which has the next scheduled event showcased on your homepage. There's still some training, like when they ask the million questions, in your non-irritated voice, you still have to say "Oh, I think I added those plans TripIt."

Thanks for this recommendation! I downloaded it an hour ago and I’m already hooked. My planner self LOVES it!

ETA: oh and I chiseled away 4 temples/shrines from the itinerary, so it’s down to 8 total across Tokyo/Kyoto/Osaka/Nara/Mt Fuji. I feel like that’s a little more reasonable/manageable.

 

[punkin]

This is my youngest DD. It doesn't matter how many times we have talked about where we are going when she gets to TSA and they ask her name and where she is going she always turns to me. I'm like tell him this information and half the time she asks "where are we going?". Ugh! I know a lot is teenage brain but I'm like get it together girl they're going to think we're trafficking you.

When DD was 14 and went to Japan alone to visit her best friend, the border control guy asked her where she was going...She said Tokyo. He asked for an address and she couldn't give it to him because she didn't know (She had it written down but couldn't find it). She called her friend's father, who was waiting to pick her up at the airport and had him tell the guy the address.

 

[reliev]

I think the cost is pretty standard. Not sure if it differs by the delivery company much, but there's a chart based on size and distance. Next day arrival is standard, probably there's an additional charge for expedited. I'm not sure by what time since I usually use it to have the checked luggage bypass the short stops, so I've never cared. The 500 yen cost I mentioned is the Hilton Tokyo Bay surcharge in additional to the standard charge. The service is cheap but it's not <$4 cheap lol.

It was 2180 yen to send a checked bag from the Andaz Tokyo to Osaka. They put it on my folio and it earned Hyatt points. I believe most places take cash only.



No need to prearrange. You can just do it when you check out.

yes, i checked all 3 hotels im at can be added to the bill. (im all about my WOH points) Im wondering if I can give them the bag and just be without a bag for the next day.. maybe that's something I ask the concierge then if I can have it expedited (for the first trip). Good looking out i didn't know they could expedite.

 

[becauseimnew]

All this Japan talk is stressing me out, we go in 5 months and I don't have anything planned. I have flights and hotels booked, USJ and DTR dates selected but besides that I haven't looked at Temples or Shrines.

 

[Nala83]

Since it was nerve tracking I assume you don’t have a business with an EIN? What questions were you asked? Did they ask for any documentation on your business?

No EIN, no documentation requested. He just asked a general "so what do you do?" question. Then he asked if I was registered with the state. I said no and kind of played dumb...asked if I was supposed to be. He said it was probably a good idea.

I got the feeling he was mostly making conversation and showing interest- making small talk while filling out paperwork. He clearly wanted to establish a banking relationship with me and sell me on more features!

 

[afan]

All this Japan talk is stressing me out, we go in 5 months and I don't have anything planned. I have flights and hotels booked, USJ and DTR dates selected but besides that I haven't looked at Temples or Shrines.

I don't think that's a problem though I would start to look at dates you can get tickets and figure out if there's anywhere else you'll need to get tickets for before you go. That includes the train.

 

[reliev]

All this Japan talk is stressing me out, we go in 5 months and I don't have anything planned. I have flights and hotels booked, USJ and DTR dates selected but besides that I haven't looked at Temples or Shrines.

I just plan the meals I want then one-two things a day my concierge at ph told me 3 months out so i snoozed an email to get into the 3 places I really want to go in Tokyo. then the rest I feel will fall into place don't stress it too much.