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

[Haley R]

We ended up booking a cabin on vrbo in Gatlinburg for May. It’ll be just dh, myself, and ds. We’ve never been before so I’m pretty excited. Dh wasn’t thrilled that it wasn’t on points but we used the venture x since it codes as travel and we have some points to erase part of the cost. Before Gatlinburg we’ll do 4 nights at one of the Dollywood resorts using chase points.

Dh wants to do Amsterdam, flying United Polaris out of DC but I’m not quite ready for a long flight with ds yet. He’s still been acting up a bit but it seems like it’s starting to get better. Gatlinburg is all we have planned for 2025 aside from visiting family. We will spend about a week with my parents in Alabama in March and have a weekend trip for a family wedding in Iowa in August.

 

[DogCat]

We ended up booking a cabin on vrbo in Gatlinburg for May. It’ll be just dh, myself, and ds. We’ve never been before so I’m pretty excited. Dh wasn’t thrilled that it wasn’t on points but we used the venture x since it codes as travel and we have some points to erase part of the cost. Before Gatlinburg we’ll do 4 nights at one of the Dollywood resorts using chase points.

Dh wants to do Amsterdam, flying United Polaris out of DC but I’m not quite ready for a long flight with ds yet. He’s still been acting up a bit but it seems like it’s starting to get better. Gatlinburg is all we have planned for 2025 aside from visiting family. We will spend about a week with my parents in Alabama in March and have a weekend trip for a family wedding in Iowa in August.

I look forward to hearing more about your trip. I am thinking about doing a similar trip since you first mentioned it here. My family is burned out on Disney it seems and I'm always looking for something other than the beach. Did you pick one of the Dollywood resorts using your Chase points?

 

[NewbieMom]

I asked WA Pedregal about putting 4 in a room, but didn't have as much luck as others have in the past. They offered to upgrade in advance to the queen room for $600/night. Also said it would cost $100/night for the third person if we stayed in the king room. I put 3 on the reservation, so I could probably argue against this.

I did book a holiday, maybe that's why. Plus it's more in advance than their usual award releases. Think I'm going to cancel and plan for a couples trip in the future.

Thanks for reporting back. I think we'll definitely need 2 rooms as a family of 5. It's too cost prohibitive. I think we might give up on this resort.

 

[Haley R]

I look forward to hearing more about your trip. I am thinking about doing a similar trip since you first mentioned it here. My family is burned out on Disney it seems and I'm always looking for something other than the beach. Did you pick one of the Dollywood resorts using your Chase points?

We live close to the beach so any change in scenery is great for us. I’m excited for the mountains! The cabin we booked has awesome reviews and a nice view of the mountains.

Only one of the Dollywood resorts shows up on the chase portal when I search so we’re doing that one. It’s the DreamMore resort. We’ll stay there the whole time we’re in pigeon forge before moving to Gatlinburg.

 

[Sheree]

Hello! If you had to choose between Lisbon and Barcelona, which one would you choose? This is a trip we are considering for next April, but not sure if we want to go to both of those, or just one and maybe somewhere else.

definitely Portugal. Barcelona was nice but it didn't feel as comfortable. Dirtier, graffiti, people weren't as friendly. The Catedral Famiglia, Park Guell (Gaudi) and Montserrate were beautiful though
Lisbon was beautiful although hilly! loved hotel, people very friendly, shops were ,more locally owned (artisan type). did day trips to Sintra, Caicais,Fatima, Obidos, Nazare.. I'd spend a week traveling thru Portugal.

 

[Budzooka]

I am looking for a new HYSA and wondering if anyone here can recommend one they are happy with. I just read a long list of negative comments on DOC's site (regarding many different HYSA options) and it sounds like a lot of them are more trouble than they are worth. I would take a few less dollars of interest for a solid, hassle-free experience.

I use Discover and it is fine. Transfers take a few days but I just plan accordingly.

 

[hsmamato2]

Correct on the CSR and no foreign transaction fees. For cash, I got the Schwab debit card that Frequent Miler talks about in this article. They refund ALL ATM fees including overseas. Just used it on our Europe cruise last month, and it was great. https://frequentmiler.com/dont-exch...r-checking-account-is-every-travelers-friend/

FOr those of you who got the schwab debit for travel.... Did you also get tons of calls from investment companies trying to get you to fund the investment stuff? I'm just ignoring it all, bc I don't want to open an investment with them- I just want the checking will they be "mad" at me?

 

[Laurieannc]

Looking to purchase park tickets through AAA. Does anyone know how that will code for cc purchase? Trying to decide which card to use to earn the most points. Thanks for any input!

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

Looking to purchase park tickets through AAA. Does anyone know how that will code for cc purchase? Trying to decide which card to use to earn the most points. Thanks for any input!

FYI, there's a Viator/TripAdvisor deal through RMN that's pretty good for park tickets. See the gift cards thread for more info, might need to do a search or go a few pages back

 

[hsmamato2]

I look forward to hearing more about your trip. I am thinking about doing a similar trip since you first mentioned it here. My family is burned out on Disney it seems and I'm always looking for something other than the beach. Did you pick one of the Dollywood resorts using your Chase points?

me too! My fam is wanting to visit Dollywood too

 

[afan]

Do citi biz cards require a separate login from personal or will I be able to add it? I got approved yesterday but it's not showing with my personal card. Never had a citi biz card before.

I'll do a search about the AA biz acct thing so I make sure my miles get linked. I remember reading about it on here.

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

I asked WA Pedregal about putting 4 in a room, but didn't have as much luck as others have in the past. They offered to upgrade in advance to the queen room for $600/night. Also said it would cost $100/night for the third person if we stayed in the king room. I put 3 on the reservation, so I could probably argue against this.

I did book a holiday, maybe that's why. Plus it's more in advance than their usual award releases. Think I'm going to cancel and plan for a couples trip in the future.

Thanks for reporting back. I think we'll definitely need 2 rooms as a family of 5. It's too cost prohibitive. I think we might give up on this resort.

I think on FT there was mention in the past week or two that they changed standard award room category to only allowing 2 instead of 3. Three never made since bc they wanted to charge you for bedding for a third person. IMO, if you allow 3 in a room I expect there to be bedding for 3, unless it's like Hyatt/SLH, where they put that disclaimer up about pricing being for 2 people.

@wanderlust7 Do you think it's worth trying to negotiate something like $100-150/nt, since that seems like the rate differential between the two rooms? random dates below

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

Since SW allows 2 changes now for flight accommodations, has anyone tried to move 14 days and then another 14 days? For some of my holiday flights, they change window was 28 days but for a January flight that just got changed it was for only 14 days and I'd like to get into February if possible.

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

definitely Portugal. Barcelona was nice but it didn't feel as comfortable. Dirtier, graffiti, people weren't as friendly. The Catedral Famiglia, Park Guell (Gaudi) and Montserrate were beautiful though
Lisbon was beautiful although hilly! loved hotel, people very friendly, shops were ,more locally owned (artisan type). did day trips to Sintra, Caicais,Fatima, Obidos, Nazare.. I'd spend a week traveling thru Portugal.

Can you remind me what hotel and area you stayed in Lisbon? We have an open day and I really want to visit Obidos, plus add in a beach, perhaps Cascais. I think some in our group would want to do Sintra, but that just feels HOT, busy and extra touristy in August. Thoughts? What would you do with one day trip near Lisbon?

And just Uber or Bolt from the airport to hotel?

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

Do citi biz cards require a separate login from personal or will I be able to add it? I got approved yesterday but it's not showing with my personal card. Never had a citi biz card before.

I'll do a search about the AA biz acct thing so I make sure my miles get linked. I remember reading about it on here.

Mine was on the same as personal

 

[bighuskermav]

Anyone else get an offer for a 5% bonus on gas/groceries/restaraunts on their Chase Disney Visa? This is supposed to be for 7/1-9/30.

We activated the offer and have been using the card exclusively for these categories, but I reviewed our July statement and it’s only showing the regular 1% bonus for all transactions.

We did the same offer last quarter and it shows the bonus 5% from charges in June. Is there just a lag in showing the rewards? The verbiage of the offer said something about taking “up to 8 weeks” to reflect the bonus points, but I’m curious if others are seeing the points show up yet? I did print the confirmation page that proves we signed up.

 

[StephPlum]

Do citi biz cards require a separate login from personal or will I be able to add it? I got approved yesterday but it's not showing with my personal card. Never had a citi biz card before.

I'll do a search about the AA biz acct thing so I make sure my miles get linked. I remember reading about it on here.

I have two logins. I never looked if there was a way to combine, though.

 

[kmc8826]

We live close to the beach so any change in scenery is great for us. I’m excited for the mountains! The cabin we booked has awesome reviews and a nice view of the mountains.

Only one of the Dollywood resorts shows up on the chase portal when I search so we’re doing that one. It’s the DreamMore resort. We’ll stay there the whole time we’re in pigeon forge before moving to Gatlinburg.

My daughter and I stayed at DreamMore for three nights in June. We really liked it and had no complaints. I booked it as three separate nights with the Amex Delta Hotel stays credit and they accommodated us staying in the same room. It is a beautiful resort and location. You guys should have a lot of fun!

 

[Haley R]

My daughter and I stayed at DreamMore for three nights in June. We really liked it and had no complaints. I booked it as three separate nights with the Amex Delta Hotel stays credit and they accommodated us staying in the same room. It is a beautiful resort and location. You guys should have a lot of fun!

That’s great to know! I didn’t care which one we stayed in. They both look nice. I love that there’s an indoor pool and playground. Did you use the time saver passes?

 

[wanderlust7]

I think on FT there was mention in the past week or two that they changed standard award room category to only allowing 2 instead of 3. Three never made since bc they wanted to charge you for bedding for a third person. IMO, if you allow 3 in a room I expect there to be bedding for 3, unless it's like Hyatt/SLH, where they put that disclaimer up about pricing being for 2 people.

@wanderlust7 Do you think it's worth trying to negotiate something like $100-150/nt, since that seems like the rate differential between the two rooms? random dates below

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That's an interesting thought. For my dates, the difference is $225/night. I already canceled it though. The 3 months cancellation policy was worrisome, so I'll try for some other date in the future.