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

[Narnia_girl]

3 seats in J

I really admire your perseverance and what a nice gift for your niece! I cannot figure out what "J" is though.

 

[wilckepedia]

I have the following spend offer on my Chase Freedom card:

"You'll earn a total of 5% cash back for every $1 you spend on up to $1,500 in combined purchases at gas stations and grocery stores from July 1 through September 30, 2023 with your Chase Freedom® Card.*"

Since the Freedom already earns 5% this quarter at gas stations, does that mean I will now earn 10% back at gas stations?

Typically when they have stacking offers, it caps at 9% or 9x the points. Chase calculates it as 1% on everything, plus a 4% bonus, for a total of 5%. So when you have stacking offers, it's 1% plus two 4% bonuses.

i.e. I'm in my first year of the Freedom Flex so I get 5x the points on groceries. When the quarterly category was groceries earlier in Q1, and then Whole Foods was included on Q2, those stacked for 9x points. Nitpicky detail, but still a great stack!

 

[StephPlum]

Where did you stay in Jasper and Banff? Was there a/c? Did you do any hikes solo? Banff is high up on my list of places to travel but I want to stay at the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise for at least 2 nights and I can't seem to stomach the cost!

Would also like to know where you stayed and any other details you’re willing to share. We spent a week in Whistler 5yrs ago, and it was one of our favorite vacations to date.

I booked last September for this June. Banff and Jasper are quite popular so I was limited in what I could find on the Chase Portal in my price range. Like others, I just can’t quite pull the trigger on the Fairmonts (Banff, Jasper and Lake Louise).

I stayed 3 nights at Mountaineer Lodge in Lake Louise Village. I got the 2nd floor, no elevator, no AC. they did have a fan in the room and it was actually ok sleeping. They do have a very good, free hot breakfast (eggs, bacon, sausage, potatoes) along with cereal and baked goods. I ate dinner one night at Lake Louise Inn and it is much larger, looked a bit nicer. It doesn’t have AC or elevators either And didn’t have free breakfast. I had this booked but opted for Mountaineer Lodge for the breakfast. The Fairmont Lake Louise was undergoing construction when I visited Lake Louise. It looked like they were painting and were building a new section. I would have been upset to pay for that and have those disruptions (it was probably disclosed). I would recommend staying in the Lake Louise area to visits Lake Louise and Lake Moraine. The day I did those lakes, I went to Yoho NP in the afternoon. Very convenient. I also drove to Johnston Canyon from here. It is also easy to get to Jasper.

In Jasper, I stayed at Jasper Inn and Suites for 3 nights. Same thing with no elevator or AC and no free breakfast. There is a restaurant on-site. again they supplied fans to cool the rooms off. Here I had a larger refrigerator with freezer, microwave, living room. Nice size. If I stayed again, I might try to be closer to the downtown area with the restaurants and shops. It was a 15 min walk to downtown. All the parking seemed to be paid. I ate dinner one night at the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge. It seemed very nice but spread out With detached cabins.

Last 2 nights were in the Banff Inn. Here I did have AC and an elevator. It was also a 15 min walk to downtown. Banff proper was my least favorite as it was wall to wall people. I just am not into large crowds.

All of these were booked on the Chase portal. Average night was $350. Booking earlier might get you better prices.

I was solo for this trip, but everything was busy. Some trails weren’t as busy as others but I wasn’t the only one out on the trail. I was on the most popular trails, nothing backcountry. I hiked the rockpile for Lake Moraine, around the shore of Lake Louise, Johnston Canyon, Takkakaws Falls, Natural Bridge, Peyto Lake, Maligne Canyon. I did all the pull offs on the Icefields Parkway, Bow Valley Parkway which usually were just a short walk from the pull off. I liked the Maligne Lake boat cruise better than the Minnewanka Lake cruise. But both were nice. I also went up the Banff Gondola and walked the boardwalk to the observation tower. Great views of Fairmont Banff Springs but I also walked the Hoodoos trail which had good views of this as well.

Hope this helps with your planning.

 

[Psychodisney]

Updated my profile pic to the latest NP Sign! Banff and Jasper were amazing (a slight edge to Jasper in my mind!). Moraine Lake was the #1 attraction followed by wildlife (bears, moose, elk, mountain goats) and then Peyto Lake. Too many others to mention. This has been a bucket list item for me for a few years so happy to have made it happen, especially after my recent mobility challenges.

I don't calculate CPP but I do look at savings. My goal is to travel more. Points/miles/bank bonuses stretch my travel budget. The all in trip cost was about $5,000 and my out of pocket was $250. Points/miles for hotels and airfare; Chase Bank bonus $900 covered the other expenses (car, food, gas, entertainment).

Heading to Banff in 3 weeks. Cannot wait. Flights on points, night in Calgary pre and post covered on points. Used FHR benefits to splurge on Fairmont….but certainly not covered on points. lol
How crowded was it around the lakes?

 

[calypso726]

I really admire your perseverance and what a nice gift for your niece! I cannot figure out what "J" is though.

Thank you! We have told the nieces and nephews that they get to choose a destination for their graduation gift. My niece chose a cruise through Greece.

Sorry for that. J refers to the fare basis on business class seats. F is first class, J is business, W is premium economy and Y is economy. Hope that helps

 

[Frwinkley]

I’ve never been to Seattle but have been to Vancouver. I’d prefer the latter.

Vancouver 1000%. Just returned from both and preferred Vancouver many times over Seattle.

 

[LilSweetPeaPhoto]

So the cruise I had on hold, the hold expired earlier than I was expecting.....BUT there were still rooms on the ship. My 18yo was upset I wasn't planning on taking her (since I plan on taking her on the Holland free cruise). My 14yo was upset he'd "be alone". So I rebooked and added her. But I told her she needs to cover some of her own cost. Because she adds $400 to the trip cost. But I do think both kids will be happier if they have each other.

Does anyone know does MSC allow "kids"? on the free cruise? It would be just me and the 14yo. I need to call on that cruise, and I might book a spring break trip since it's supposed to be 100% free and we don't make it, I wouldn't be too sad, LOL.

I saw family today and they all wanted me to share how I do all of this, LOL. They were taking notes....I'm trying to figure out the best place to lead them to. I was going to have them join the 10x group on FB....but I HATE the "list" they push. Like my cousin's son, I suggested looking at Bilt for charging his rent.....And they were interested in cruises, so I was telling them about Wyndham. Both would NOT be suggested by 10x.

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

Data point and venting rolled into one. As I have mentioned here before, we are taking my niece on a VV Greek Isles cruise for her graduation next year. When I was researching my best option to get 3 seats in J (business class), I decided to go with an Emirates fifth freedom flight out of EWR. It would be 261k miles and $312 in taxes/fees all in. I'll position there from MIA using UTB funds that have accumulated.

A few days ago I transferred the MR points to my Skywards account in anticipation of booking the flights in the next few days. The day after that, I come across a blog post talking about the Skywards Plus subscription and read the details. The one that struck me was the ability to once a year save 20% of the miles on an award flight for all travelers on the same ticket. That would be 52,500 miles and the subscription is $399. So my next question is do I or don't I. How much do I value 52.5k miles and am I likely to fly Emirates in the next 3 years as those miles have a hard expiration date. They are worth more than $399 the way I plan to use them and yes I am likely to fly Emirates again in the next 3 years. So I purchase the non refundable subscription. The voucher can only be applied to a booking while on a desktop which is fine. The last three Emirates flights I have booked were all booked on my desktop computer with no problem (Foreshadowing here )

My booking date opens up and there is no way to actually completely book the flight. The select payment screen is not working. I am able to select the flight, add passengers, choose seats, see the fare breakdown but not actually pay the taxes. I try with and without applying the 20% voucher and it's a no go. I try in different browsers, incognito and nothing. I do the same but with different dates and nothing. So I call and the agents cannot help since you can't apply the voucher over the phone. I am told to try chat, I do and the agent can't assist in the end even after walking me through the whole process which I've already done. He just says he will send the details and my screenshots to the back end team and someone will get back with me in a few days. Uh, a few days? I really don't intend on taking a chance those seats are still there in a few days.

I try everything again the next morning and still no payment option on the payment screen. So, I wind up booking the flight on the app and not using the 20% off voucher since you can't pull it up in the app. I'd rather not lose 3 seats together in J. I call again and explain the situation and once again they can do nothing to help. They can't refund the subscription or manually add 52.5k miles. The agent on that call suggested that I send a communication through the complaint/feedback option on the website. So, I did that, explained the entire situation and attempts to get things rectified without much hope of any resolution. This morning to my surprise and delight, I received an email from the feedback team stating that while they could not refund the subscription, they did manually add back my 52.2k miles!

Wasn't sure where that was going, glad to see a happy ending after all the frustration!
And what a nice thing to do for your niece.

ETA: we'll be flying Emirates for the first time this November, Milan to NYC. DH wasn't thrilled about it because he has qualms about the UAE government which owns it. But I'm hopeful that the superb service I'm expecting will win him over enough. And regardless, if this was our only biz class direct flight option, and that's a big pull for me!

 

[calypso726]

So the cruise I had on hold, the hold expired earlier than I was expecting.....BUT there were still rooms on the ship. My 18yo was upset I wasn't planning on taking her (since I plan on taking her on the Holland free cruise). My 14yo was upset he'd "be alone". So I rebooked and added her. But I told her she needs to cover some of her own cost. Because she adds $400 to the trip cost. But I do think both kids will be happier if they have each other.

Does anyone know does MSC allow "kids"? on the free cruise? It would be just me and the 14yo. I need to call on that cruise, and I might book a spring break trip since it's supposed to be 100% free and we don't make it, I wouldn't be too sad, LOL.

I saw family today and they all wanted me to share how I do all of this, LOL. They were taking notes.... I was going to haveI'm trying to figure out the best place to lead them to. them join the 10x group on FB....but I HATE the "list" they push. Like my cousin's son, I suggested looking at Bilt for charging his rent.....And they were interested in cruises, so I was telling them about Wyndham. Both would NOT be suggested by 10x.

I'd recommend Frequent Miler Insiders on FB and of course right here on the DIS where they are at least guaranteed a friendly group with any newbie questions.

 

[calypso726]

Wasn't sure where that was going, glad to see a happy ending after all the frustration!
And what a nice thing to do for your niece.

ETA: we'll be flying Emirates for the first time this November, Milan to NYC. DH wasn't thrilled about it because he has qualms about the UAE government which owns it. But I'm hopeful that the superb service I'm expecting will win him over enough. And regardless, if this was our only biz class direct flight option, and that's a big pull for me!

Thanks!

I've been eyeing the same route for a future trip and it's exactly why I pulled the trigger on the subscription. It was 52,500 miles towards a trip I'm planning to take anyhow. If I book RT it's already mostly paid for a seat in business. I'd only need 2,000 more miles. Would I pay $399 plus 2,000 miles for a RT business class seat to Europe? All day, everyday so that was why I decided to purchase the subscription. Wish I had known about the subscription thing when we flew to Dubai on Emirates last year. But glad I know about it now.

 

[StephPlum]

Heading to Banff in 3 weeks. Cannot wait. Flights on points, night in Calgary pre and post covered on points. Used FHR benefits to splurge on Fairmont….but certainly not covered on points. lol
How crowded was it around the lakes?

Lake Louise was the busiest And for me super crowded. But it was also the one I visited mid morning 10-11 am. I took the shuttle to Lake Moraine first 8am and then shuttled over to Lake Louise. I think if you are staying at the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise you could be at lake Louise early and/or late so you could avoid the crowds.

The other lake that was busy and I didn’t get to visit (parking was full) was Emerald Lake in Yoho. I was there around 4pm.

Lake Moraine and Peyto Lake I did before 8am and both were fine. I did feel like most people weren’t early birds. So before 9am you were good. I don’t know if that holds for July and August. I think I was at the beginning of the season and it gets even more crowded in July and August.

 

[DogCat]

To anyone out there that has the BILT Mastercard, do you know if that will work to pay the rent for someone else or does the apartment lease have to be the same name as the card? I was wanting it to pay the rent for two of my kids but it looks like you can only pay rent once per month. That should still work for us because one kid's rent is only due at the beginning of the semester and the other one is due once per month. One landlord wants venmo and the other one wants a check. It's nice to see BILT does both now. I am just a little worried about using one of my 5/24 slots on this card unless I am sure I can use it pay both rents.

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

Anyone tried the BA balance booster when coupled with the Amex 30% transfer bonus yet? According to (trigger warning) TPG, it appears to work. I don't usually buy miles, but just over $.0109 when coupled with the bonus makes it enticing: https://thepointsguy.com/news/british-airways-avios-balance-boost/

 

[LynnTH]

We are about to book ours now! Ours is giving a ton of summer options for 2024 so thats what we are looking at. $400-$450 for 2 people (but $200 OBC) for most of our options , but a huge difference in what the extra charge is to add our kids. 7 days on their brand new ship is the cheapest option amazingly ($900 for 4 people all fees/taxes included- still a great deal!). My husband is theeeeeee most indecisive person on the planet though so I am waiting on him to decide which one we take and I gave him a deadline of this weekend haha

How long is your cruise? $325 is less than you spend on food and drink for 5-7 days anywhere else! We've done a lot of different lines and IMO Carnival has by far the best deck food.

Just chiming in about Carnival. We prefer them to other lines. I love the variety of included food options over the other lines -especially the Mardi Gras/Celebration and Upcoming Jubilee.

 

[hsmamato2]

I booked last September for this June. Banff and Jasper are quite popular so I was limited in what I could find on the Chase Portal in my price range. Like others, I just can’t quite pull the trigger on the Fairmonts (Banff, Jasper and Lake Louise).

I stayed 3 nights at Mountaineer Lodge in Lake Louise Village. I got the 2nd floor, no elevator, no AC. they did have a fan in the room and it was actually ok sleeping. They do have a very good, free hot breakfast (eggs, bacon, sausage, potatoes) along with cereal and baked goods. I ate dinner one night at Lake Louise Inn and it is much larger, looked a bit nicer. It doesn’t have AC or elevators either And didn’t have free breakfast. I had this booked but opted for Mountaineer Lodge for the breakfast. The Fairmont Lake Louise was undergoing construction when I visited Lake Louise. It looked like they were painting and were building a new section. I would have been upset to pay for that and have those disruptions (it was probably disclosed). I would recommend staying in the Lake Louise area to visits Lake Louise and Lake Moraine. The day I did those lakes, I went to Yoho NP in the afternoon. Very convenient. I also drove to Johnston Canyon from here. It is also easy to get to Jasper.

In Jasper, I stayed at Jasper Inn and Suites for 3 nights. Same thing with no elevator or AC and no free breakfast. There is a restaurant on-site. again they supplied fans to cool the rooms off. Here I had a larger refrigerator with freezer, microwave, living room. Nice size. If I stayed again, I might try to be closer to the downtown area with the restaurants and shops. It was a 15 min walk to downtown. All the parking seemed to be paid. I ate dinner one night at the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge. It seemed very nice but spread out With detached cabins.

Last 2 nights were in the Banff Inn. Here I did have AC and an elevator. It was also a 15 min walk to downtown. Banff proper was my least favorite as it was wall to wall people. I just am not into large crowds.

All of these were booked on the Chase portal. Average night was $350. Booking earlier might get you better prices.

I was solo for this trip, but everything was busy. Some trails weren’t as busy as others but I wasn’t the only one out on the trail. I was on the most popular trails, nothing backcountry. I hiked the rockpile for Lake Moraine, around the shore of Lake Louise, Johnston Canyon, Takkakaws Falls, Natural Bridge, Peyto Lake, Maligne Canyon. I did all the pull offs on the Icefields Parkway, Bow Valley Parkway which usually were just a short walk from the pull off. I liked the Maligne Lake boat cruise better than the Minnewanka Lake cruise. But both were nice. I also went up the Banff Gondola and walked the boardwalk to the observation tower. Great views of Fairmont Banff Springs but I also walked the Hoodoos trail which had good views of this as well.

Hope this helps with your planning.

How did you feel on a solo trip? I'm itching to visit places like Arches NP again but a little scared about doing it alone.....

 

[disneylover81]

i

It appears this TSA teen policy is actually a change. I thought the same thing you did when I first saw that, but I checked (and then rechecked TSA and several other major news outlets). TSA says 13-17 "when traveling on the same reservation as parent" but also says "when Pre-Check is printed on boarding pass." However, all the major news outlets report that as of late May TSA announced it as a change to allow all teens 13-17 to accompany the parent. So maybe the change is that all teens 13-17 on the adult's res will now receive that designation on their boarding pass instead of random ones. This is supposedly one of the ways TSA is trying to speed up TSA checkpoint lines this summer. Maybe someone here can report about their experience this summer.

I flew mid-May with my 17 year old daughter who does not have Pre-Check on her own. Pre-Check was printed on her boarding pass both ways. I sure was glad about it too, I might add since we were going through ATL to get to MCO!

 

[chattadisser]

To anyone out there that has the BILT Mastercard, do you know if that will work to pay the rent for someone else or does the apartment lease have to be the same name as the card? I was wanting it to pay the rent for two of my kids but it looks like you can only pay rent once per month. That should still work for us because one kid's rent is only due at the beginning of the semester and the other one is due once per month. One landlord wants venmo and the other one wants a check. It's nice to see BILT does both now. I am just a little worried about using one of my 5/24 slots on this card unless I am sure I can use it pay both rents.

I don't know the answer to this as I only do their monthly trivia at this point but, if you're on twitter DM Richard Kerr @kerrpoints. He works for Bilt and can probably tell you. It's worth a shot at least, hope it works out for you.

 

[Haley R]

We got our return flight booked for Japan! We ended up picking ORD over SFO even though it’s a longer flight because it gives us an extra 2 days. After that there isn’t anything for 4-5 days which would make our trip too long. It’s hard to believe the 3 of us will be flying business class for $140

 

[DogCat]

I don't know the answer to this as I only do their monthly trivia at this point but, if you're on twitter DM Richard Kerr @kerrpoints. He works for Bilt and can probably tell you. It's worth a shot at least, hope it works out for you.

Sadly, I am not on twitter, facebook or any social media (weird I know.) This is my only social media LOL. Sometimes I think I should join twitter whenever these type of suggestions are made on this forum but so far I have not taken the time to figure it out.

 

[newski_mom]

Wondering if anyone has cruised out of the Manhattan cruise port in NYC? We have a cruise booked out of there in February. We typically fly Southwest, so it looks like LGA would be our best airport to fly into. I also have a bank of money with United that we could use and fly into EWR.

We will be flying in on a Thursday evening and the cruise leaves Friday evening, so really only need a hotel to sleep in for the night. Will pretty much be going to the port after getting up the next morning.

So, any recommendations on which airport to fly into and/or a hotel / area to look into?

Thanks!