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

[afan]

Thanks! I think it was pop up jail because it said something like you are not qualified for this offer, do you want to proceed? I wish I would have taken a screen shot of it cause I can't remember the exact wording. The public offer and the NLL are the same so I will try again using the public offer first.

If they are the same there's no reason not to use the nll and ignore the public. It won't affect anything. The only reason to do the public first is if the offer is better.

 

[SleepyatDVC]

What's the best way to combine 2 Hyatt reservations?

I made a reservation for Sunday night in NYC and then a separate reservation for the next 3 nights in case I needed to drop the first night.

I now know we can use the first night and would like to combine the 2 reservations, so that we will not need to move.

Should I call the Hyatt customer service #, the hotel directly, or wait until we check in? I would rather do it in advance for my peace of mind.

Also, we just got Hamilton matinee tickets for the Sunday we check in. Should I call the Hyatt Centric Times Square to see if we can drop off our bags before the show? Or should we just pack really light and each just carry a back pack that we take in with us? Will the theatre let us bring in a packed back pack each?

TIA

 

[wanderlust7]

What's the best way to combine 2 Hyatt reservations?

I made a reservation for Sunday night in NYC and then a separate reservation for the next 3 nights in case I needed to drop the first night.

I now know we can use the first night and would like to combine the 2 reservations, so that we will not need to move.

Should I call the Hyatt customer service #, the hotel directly, or wait until we check in? I would rather do it in advance for my peace of mind.

Also, we just got Hamilton matinee tickets for the Sunday we check in. Should I call the Hyatt Centric Times Square to see if we can drop off our bags before the show? Or should we just pack really light and each just carry a back pack that we take in with us? Will the theatre let us bring in a packed back pack each?

TIA

I usually e-mail the hotel and give them the confirmation numbers. I'll ask nicely for anything special I'd like too (early check-in, upgrade). Even if you don't, they'll probably see it and combine the reservations.

Hopefully you can check-in early and drop off your bags. If not, I'm sure the bellhop or front desk can hold it.

 

[SleepyatDVC]

I usually e-mail the hotel and give them the confirmation numbers. I'll ask nicely for anything special I'd like too (early check-in, upgrade). Even if you don't, they'll probably see it and combine the reservations.

Hopefully you can check-in early and drop off your bags. If not, I'm sure the bellhop or front desk can hold it.

Where do I find the email address to use for the hotel? Is it a general email or to a particular person?

 

[wanderlust7]

Where do I find the email address to use for the hotel? Is it a general email or to a particular person?

General. Hyatt's very good about having it on the hotel website.

 

[SleepyatDVC]

General. Hyatt's very good about having it on the hotel website.

Perfect. Thanks so much I was able to find it.

ETA: If the hotel does link the reservations, will I be able to see it online - like it becomes one reservation for the entire trip? Or if they respond to my email that they are linked, that will be my confirmation and it will still be separate online? Sorry, I'm overthinking things rn. Lol.

 

[hsmamato2]

Yes

so I guess I'll wait till the full AF comes due,then PC. I don't mind paying the $14 since I get so much use out of it currently

 

[becauseimnew]

I just saw that STK Steakhouse in Disney Springs is on the Resy website, does that mean it qualifies for the $50 Amex Gold Credit?
They are have gift cards available on https://stkhouse.cashstar.com/, the cashstar website probably means it won't qualify for the $50 credit?

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

Perfect. Thanks so much I was able to find it.

ETA: If the hotel does link the reservations, will I be able to see it online - like it becomes one reservation for the entire trip? Or if they respond to my email that they are linked, that will be my confirmation and it will still be separate online? Sorry, I'm overthinking things rn. Lol.

When I've combined reservations, it seems it's just a note on the hotel's system. I haven't seen it reflected online on Hyatt's website

 

[wanderlust7]

Perfect. Thanks so much I was able to find it.

ETA: If the hotel does link the reservations, will I be able to see it online - like it becomes one reservation for the entire trip? Or if they respond to my email that they are linked, that will be my confirmation and it will still be separate online? Sorry, I'm overthinking things rn. Lol.

It'll still be separate. When you check-in, they'll usually confirm how many nights you're staying. If it's not correct or they don't mention that, then I'll remind them of the separate reservations. It's never been a problem except once at an SLH (Tabacon), but was eventually resolved. I think we had to go get our keys recoded.

After you check-out, it'll be combined into 1 stay record.

 

[elgerber]

What's the best way to combine 2 Hyatt reservations?

I made a reservation for Sunday night in NYC and then a separate reservation for the next 3 nights in case I needed to drop the first night.

I now know we can use the first night and would like to combine the 2 reservations, so that we will not need to move.

Should I call the Hyatt customer service #, the hotel directly, or wait until we check in? I would rather do it in advance for my peace of mind.

Also, we just got Hamilton matinee tickets for the Sunday we check in. Should I call the Hyatt Centric Times Square to see if we can drop off our bags before the show? Or should we just pack really light and each just carry a back pack that we take in with us? Will the theatre let us bring in a packed back pack each?

TIA

When are you going? We are staying there in September, and would love your thoughts on the hotel.

 

[NewbieMom]

I'm not good with writing trip reports, but I wanted to thank this community for all the tips, advice, and ideas over the past several years since I've started following this thread. It's really amazing how much cc points have helped offset travel costs and enabled us to go to aspirational destinations and resorts we'd never consider!

We just returned from our French Polynesia trip this month. We budget for travel every year, so we're definitely not aiming for free. However, I would estimate that we covered 75% of the trip with points. I always find others' redemptions helpful, so hopefully this helps someone too.

Flights: I didn't include position flights as it all depends on your origin airport.
one way to LAX-Papeete: Air Tahiti Nui economy - about 25k MRs + $56 taxes per person
interisland flights: cash (I wasn't able to find any points way to pay.)
one way from Papeete-SFO: United economy - about 45K united miles + $56 taxes per person

Hotels:
Hilton Tahiti: Nice hotel, but not walkable / in downtown area. Need a taxi or car if you're planning to explore. We landed at 6am in the morning, and they offered us a room for $230. Otherwise, no guarantees until 3pm check-in time. The hotel is 80K HH points/night (~$400 value to me), so it was worth it for us to pay the early check-in fee for the room. We used a combination of points & FNC.
Moorea: I wasn't able to find availability at the Hilton Moorea so we rented an airbnb using discounted gift cards. It was fantastic, and the owners were wonderful. Definitely need a car here. It's very difficult to get around without one. Also I highly recommend getting car insurance. Despite being easy to drive on the island, the parking is tight and there's not much practically no streetlights so nighttime driving is difficult. DH accidentally scraped the right fender of the car leaving a parking lot. I'm glad we had opted for the extra insurance (I think it was only $80-$100 extra for the week), and they didn't even question it when we dropped off the car. I do have a CSR; I'm not sure if it would cover it, but it's one less hassle to worry about.
Conrad Bora Bora: This was a very nice resort, and my kids loved it here! As expected, everything was expensive. I think DH's eyes popped out of his socket when he saw an entree of sweet & sour chicken costs $45. I had anticipated it and prepaid using the aspire, HH biz, and surpass credits from the past year so our final bill at checkout costs me a whopping $35! For those with young kids, I think there is an unofficial policy of kids 6 and under eating free. I couldn't find it written anywhere but 5 out of 8 of our meals, my younger two were not charged. It may be YMMV; I didn't follow up on it. We used a combination of points & FNC.

After this trip, I'm completely tapped out of planning. There were so many components to this trip (positioning flights, international flights, interisland flights, rental cars, ferry tickets, hotel, airbnb) that I have no energy left for 2025. We'll probably take a year off to travel locally and visit family (and replenish points). If anyone is planning a trip to French Polynesia, feel free to PM me with questions!

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

Just shy of 200,000 miles on our BMW X5, and was hoping to ride it into the sunset for a year or two longer. But needs a $6,000 repair, so we gotta throw in the towel. Our other car is also approaching 200k and it's been lovely not to have any kind of car "payments." Did y'all know the average new car payment is $700+/mo and used car is $500+/mo? That is insane.

Will likely pay cash and credit card if they allow. Looking at these used cars- any recommendations?:

Honda CR-V EX-L
Toyota RAV4 Limited
Honda Pilot EX-L

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

Just shy of 200,000 miles on our BMW X5, and was hoping to ride it into the sunset for a year or two longer. But needs a $6,000 repair, so we gotta throw in the towel. Our other car is also approaching 200k and it's been lovely not to have any kind of car "payments." Did y'all know the average new car payment is $700+/mo and used car is $500+/mo? That is insane.

Will likely pay cash and credit card if they allow. Looking at these used cars- any recommendations?:

Honda CR-V EX-L
Toyota RAV4 Limited
Honda Pilot EX-L

The CRV and Pilot are pretty different--do you need the extra seats or room form the Pilot? If not, the CRV will take less gas as it's a smaller SUV and more comparable with the RAV4.

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

Just shy of 200,000 miles on our BMW X5, and was hoping to ride it into the sunset for a year or two longer. But needs a $6,000 repair, so we gotta throw in the towel. Our other car is also approaching 200k and it's been lovely not to have any kind of car "payments." Did y'all know the average new car payment is $700+/mo and used car is $500+/mo? That is insane.

Will likely pay cash and credit card if they allow. Looking at these used cars- any recommendations?:

Honda CR-V EX-L
Toyota RAV4 Limited
Honda Pilot EX-L

I bought ds an X3 for his uni grad gift and the repairs were always $$$$. Heck even oil changes were $$. After 3 years we traded it in for an Acura RDX (which can be serviced at Honda dealerships). He LOVED the RDX ASpec; unfortunately it was stolen out of his driveway last summer (we have a HUGE car theft / carjacking problem in our city). Since Hondas & Toyotas are top of the list for stolen vehicles and he doesn't have a garage, I got him a Q3 and he LOVES it. He uses a club on the Q3 steering wheel all.the.time now.

 

[Haley R]

Just shy of 200,000 miles on our BMW X5, and was hoping to ride it into the sunset for a year or two longer. But needs a $6,000 repair, so we gotta throw in the towel. Our other car is also approaching 200k and it's been lovely not to have any kind of car "payments." Did y'all know the average new car payment is $700+/mo and used car is $500+/mo? That is insane.

Will likely pay cash and credit card if they allow. Looking at these used cars- any recommendations?:

Honda CR-V EX-L
Toyota RAV4 Limited
Honda Pilot EX-L

We have a Rav 4 and we love it. Ours is a hybrid.

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

The CRV and Pilot are pretty different--do you need the extra seats or room form the Pilot? If not, the CRV will take less gas as it's a smaller SUV and more comparable with the RAV4.

The two cars that are going are the BMW X5 and a Buick Enclave (which I have loved, loved, loved). Thinking of replacing these with an SUV (small or large) and a fuel-efficient sedan.

We have always had a mini-van or an SUV that seats 7. We are handy people, so shlep lumber and what not. And when we travel as a family 2x a year, it would be nice to have the 8 seats of a Pilot (just to the airport), because we typically travel as a party of 8. This time I'm paying an extra nearly $200 for airport parking for an extra car. But our household is only 4, plus two dogs. Youngest is 11.

So I really don't need an 8 seater. It's maybe a want?? A want I'm not sure I want. I did a calculator and the fuel cost savings is probably around $1000 year.

Has anyone downsized a car and regretted it?

I bought ds an X3 for his uni grad gift and the repairs were always $$$$. Heck even oil changes were $$. After 3 years we traded it in for an Acura RDX (which can be serviced at Honda dealerships). He LOVED the RDX ASpec; unfortunately it was stolen out of his driveway last summer (we have a HUGE car theft / carjacking problem in our city). Since Hondas & Toyotas are top of the list for stolen vehicles and he doesn't have a garage, I got him a Q3 and he LOVES it. He uses a club on the Q3 steering wheel all.the.time now.

We have a Honda/Toyota theft problem in the city, but luckily it hasn't reached our suburban areas.

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

Biz Plat Retention DP: 10K MR for $5K spend. Umm, no.

DH has two Biz Plats including the one we're probably not keeping. Will see if something better like just shaving $100 off the AF becomes available for retention before the 30 days are up. If so, we might keep it just to keep Amex happy and since we do use $600 worth of credits easily enough. But DH got an offer for a third Biz Plat in the mail, 250K MRs for $15K, I'd much rather put spend toward that! Will have to apply for it before canceling the other in case the cancellation affects the new application.

 

[DogCat]

If they are the same there's no reason not to use the nll and ignore the public. It won't affect anything. The only reason to do the public first is if the offer is better.

Well that was a struggle. First, P2 tried using the nll link on iPad but it kept freezing on the second page and would not let us page down to submit. After repeatedly trying in vain, we switched to my computer (first I cleared my history and cookies so as not to confuse amex). This time it allowed P2 to hit submit and then a screen came up that asked if additional cards were wanted. We didn't want any but it would not allow that. There was no button (that we could find) that said No, thanks. Neither Continue nor Submit worked. It kept highlighting the cells to add an additional card member. Finally, P2 added another family member. It only asked for a birthdate (SSN was optional). Then it went through - Hallelujah!!

We still have 2 more Hilton apps to do and I am dreading it. I wonder if it's worthwhile to even try to use a support link or just go straight to doc's links. Am I going to be forced to add an additional card member or is that a fluke?

 

[ten6mom]

Has anyone downsized a car and regretted it?

I downsized about 18 months ago from a Honda Odyssey to a 2019 CRV. No regrets at all but my my kids are older and finally they both drive, so I am not carting bunches of children around any more. I think the newer CRV's are bigger (at least the hood part seems like it is harder to see over) than the older ones.