I love credit cards so much! v7.0 - 2025 (see first page for add'l details)

[disneylover81]

I’m trying to figure out the best way to do transportation for this trip. DH and I arrive Thursday, 4/30/26 on SWA at MCO at 8:15 pm. We need to get to Port Canaveral for a 3 day Carnival cruise departing Friday, 5/1. Currently, we have a room booked at Holiday Inn Express, Cape Canaveral for that one night, since it’s right across the street from the ship, we can walk over at boarding time. We return from our cruise on Monday, 5/4 and will be heading from there to WDW staying at VGF until Saturday, 5/9. So we will also need transportation from Port Canaveral to VGF.

Originally, we just planned on booking a ride on the Lyft app when we arrive at MCO to drive us to the Holiday Inn Express and then booking again from the cruise terminal to VGF. I’m figuring $100+ each way for this option. Also, it’s over an hour drive if I remember correctly, so we’d be riding for a long time with someone that we don’t know late at night. Is there another more efficient way to do this? I also thought about booking a rental car and letting it sit at the hotel while we were on our cruise and dropping it off at the Disney rental car center and then getting a shuttle to VGF. We definitely don’t want to keep a rental car for the entire trip picking up and dropping off at MCO.

Last time we cruised from there, we stayed at Hyatt MCO and took the Carnival shuttle the next morning, which was fine, but since we aren’t going right back to MCO after the cruise this time, I’m not sure that’s the best option or what we should do to get to VGF.

We don’t usually travel having multiple pieces to a trip like this to have to plan, and I figured someone here would have the best advice on tackling this.

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

Thanks for the response and suggestions. When I got the Aspire card and knew I would be getting FNCs and points, my goal was the WA in Cabo. At the time, standard rooms were very hard to find. Now, they are easier to find, but in the span of one year the points cost for a standard room has shot up from 140k to 190k to (now) 250k/night...crazy. WA in NYC is another I've been eyeing, but it's almost impossible to find 2+ night standard room availability right now...and none in the winter/spring. I briefly checked out Monarch Beach and BH, but wasn't sure it was worth flying across the country for a few days at those two.

If you are willing to make the trek to Cabo, then I'd def use the expiring 2 x FNCs there. If you want additional nights, you can always try to snag a room at the brand new PH Cabo for a few nights (45k pts / night, transfer URs --> Hyatt) to make the trip more worthwhile.

 

[Sheree]

decided to apply for bonvoy with 5 free nights. already have use for 2 that have availability less than 50k points. got the we have to look into things message. bu this am, got email with approval. and only 3k spend.
then used chase travel and the edit to book precruise for San Juan in November. with a point boost!
good day!

 

[Sheree]

Anyone have the old BILT credit card (WF)?

I signed my Dad up a while ago and he has so far accumulated 88k Bilt points after already redeeming some 18 months ago on flights from Taipei to Kyoto for 2. Haven't decided what to do yet until after the official announcements come out about the new system.

I only make the one monthly payment with it and I linked his card to the mobile app game that I play and I but micro stuff of 99cents on the game to make sure to meet the 5 required charges a month to get BILT rewards each month.

In the meantime, we have an investment property in NY that changed management companies starting 1/1/2026 and now the only way to pay the condo fees online is through BILT!

So, I had to create a new BILT rewards account (not credit card) and I used my name to open the account in order to pay the Jan 2026 condo charges.

I linked the bank account and paid the condo fees as an ACH because I didn't want to pay the 3% credit card fee. I earned 250 BILT reward points just by paying the condo fees electronically. Honestly, I don't know how any of this works anymore...

250 BILT points a month for making the payment is 3000 a year for doing something I was doing already. I wonder if I can pay multiple condo fees, HOA, or rent (electronically) through my BILT and get 250 points for each? Or is it limited to the one payment limit previously. The limit of one per month perviously was for the credit card fee waiver though.

I feel like when I haven't been to the Disney Parks in a while (I haven't) and everything has changed and I don't have the energy or time or brain cells to figure out all the changes! Lol.

I figure that I will spend the time researching AFTER the official announcement comes out. It is extra confusing because the BILT rewards account is technically separate from the BILT credit card that earns BILT rewards. Well, just like airline loyalty accounts and the credit cards that earns miles, I guess...

dh has BILT. we were using it to pay MIL rent on a/l which was great. when she passed in JUne I transferred all the points to an airline account. we still have card and not sure what to do. we have a smallish mortgage so depending on what we'd have to charge so as not to pay the 3% will determine what we do with it.

 

[ahself]

My mom came to me and wanted to do a $425 bank bonus for depositing $3k, Wells Fargo, this past Oct. Bonus just posted. How long do you all usually keep "bank bonus" accounts open? I checked and there's no early termination fee. I'll keep it open probably 6 months maybe, but I hate to have her money all over the place indefinitely.

6 months should be plenty. Some close the account right after receiving the bonus, but others suggest keeping it open for a few months after, especially if you think you (she) will want to take advantage of the promotion again in the future.

Many more comments here.

 

[ahself]

If you are willing to make the trek to Cabo, then I'd def use the expiring 2 x FNCs there. If you want additional nights, you can always try to snag a room at the brand new PH Cabo for a few nights (45k pts / night, transfer URs --> Hyatt) to make the trip more worthwhile.

Thanks for the suggestion. I also have a Cat 1-7 cert with Hyatt and might consider The Cape if I don't want to fork over the 45k for the PH.

 

[reliev]

Marriot made it offical half nights credits
Per OMMAT
At City Express, Four Points Flex, Protea Hotels, and Series by Marriott, Members will be awarded half of one (0.5) Elite Night Credit for each Qualifying Night stayed.

 

[djmeredith]

If you use AT&T for your cell phones, check your Chase offers for a $50 Fiber credit. It will work if you use it on your phone bill, but read the offer carefully. Mine required a minimum $75 payment. I had it on two cards, so I tried it on both and both credited.

 

[wanderlust7]

I’m trying to figure out the best way to do transportation for this trip. DH and I arrive Thursday, 4/30/26 on SWA at MCO at 8:15 pm. We need to get to Port Canaveral for a 3 day Carnival cruise departing Friday, 5/1. Currently, we have a room booked at Holiday Inn Express, Cape Canaveral for that one night, since it’s right across the street from the ship, we can walk over at boarding time. We return from our cruise on Monday, 5/4 and will be heading from there to WDW staying at VGF until Saturday, 5/9. So we will also need transportation from Port Canaveral to VGF.

Originally, we just planned on booking a ride on the Lyft app when we arrive at MCO to drive us to the Holiday Inn Express and then booking again from the cruise terminal to VGF. I’m figuring $100+ each way for this option. Also, it’s over an hour drive if I remember correctly, so we’d be riding for a long time with someone that we don’t know late at night. Is there another more efficient way to do this? I also thought about booking a rental car and letting it sit at the hotel while we were on our cruise and dropping it off at the Disney rental car center and then getting a shuttle to VGF. We definitely don’t want to keep a rental car for the entire trip picking up and dropping off at MCO.

Last time we cruised from there, we stayed at Hyatt MCO and took the Carnival shuttle the next morning, which was fine, but since we aren’t going right back to MCO after the cruise this time, I’m not sure that’s the best option or what we should do to get to VGF.

We don’t usually travel having multiple pieces to a trip like this to have to plan, and I figured someone here would have the best advice on tackling this.

We used this company a few years ago. Link I found it on these boards, along with other ones people like, but this was the cheapest when I compared. We only used it for Port Canaveral to Disney since we were 6 people and I didn't know how easy it would be to find rideshare.

With a late flight, my preference would be to stay at the Hyatt MCO and rideshare over the next day.

 

[palhockeymomof2]

Thanks to everyone who helped with River Cruise suggestions, got together with our friends last night and booked a Viking Rhine cruise 10/27-11/3 on The Rolf since they wanted a Veranda suite. It’s later in the season than I wanted but going with the flow.
booked with Chase travel for the 8x points on the Reserve. It was also $1,200 less than the Viking website.
If anyone is familiar with these suites we have a choice between cabin 304 or 324. Not sure if one is quieter than the other cabin 304 seems to have an empty space next to it..unsure what it is.

 

[SleepyatDVC]

WWYD?

Originally planned on taking the high speed train between Shanghai and Shenzhen during our Disneys in Asia trip later this year.

The train travel time was advertised as 7.5 to 13 hours but most are around the 10.5 hour range on the date we are traveling between cities, all arriving in Shenzhen very late in the day. I am thinking the travel time is too long and also not cheap ($124/$199/$409pp).

A flight between cities will be 2.5 hours.

Anyway, I found reward space on China Eastern Airlines through Flying Blue for 8,500 miles (+$10)/pp for economy (includes checked luggage 44lbs).

17,000 miles (+$10)/pp will get us Business Class tickets which provides 2+2 seat configurations vs 3+3 ; wider seats; 66lbs of checked luggage; priority boarding/seating/access; and airport lounge access.

I can live with the narrower seats for 2.5 hours; our checked luggage could be under 44 lbs each; and we have lounge access through CSR, Amex Plat, and CVX, so it doesn't seem business is worth it...

OTOH, double the points at 17k each for business OW seems pretty cheap in general and I am thinking it might be worth the splurge? Also, seat selection for both classes are free at check-in. If we don't check in online ASAP, I guess we can potentially not be seated together. Since there are only 12 business class seats on each flight, it is no big deal to be split up. Whereas, we could be far from each other in economy...

Normally, a 17k point difference is no biggie but all the points usage is adding up for such a long trip!

Btw, I love business lounges but I find that I hardly ever use the lounge benefit through the premium credit cards. Anyone feel the same? When we travel on points on vacation, we usually get the lounge access through the business class ticket and not the credit card benefit. When we fly domestically in economy, either the airport doesn't have a lounge, it is super far away, or super crowded and we wind up not using it. Sorry for the tangent.

17k vs 34k miles on FB transferred from Chase. I haven't added up all the points used for travel in 2026 yet but it is a LOT. But this is exactly why we work so hard to accumulate points!

Anyway, anyone want to talk me out of or into business class tickets from SHA to SZX?

TIA!

 

[disneylover81]

We used this company a few years ago. Link I found it on these boards, along with other ones people like, but this was the cheapest when I compared. We only used it for Port Canaveral to Disney since we were 6 people and I didn't know how easy it would be to find rideshare.

With a late flight, my preference would be to stay at the Hyatt MCO and rideshare over the next day.

Thanks. I’ll check them out. Honestly, staying at MCO Hyatt did work out good for us last time, but we did sit on the Carnival bus quite a while waiting on it to fill up with people. I wish we had an earlier nonstop flight option that day. Our only other option is to fly on Spirit that morning, but then we have to pay OOP since we have no points with them.

 

[afan]

WWYD?

Originally planned on taking the high speed train between Shanghai and Shenzhen during our Disneys in Asia trip later this year.

The train travel time was advertised as 7.5 to 13 hours but most are around the 10.5 hour range on the date we are traveling between cities, all arriving in Shenzhen very late in the day. I am thinking the travel time is too long and also not cheap ($124/$199/$409pp).

A flight between cities will be 2.5 hours.

Anyway, I found reward space on China Eastern Airlines through Flying Blue for 8,500 miles (+$10)/pp for economy (includes checked luggage 44lbs).

17,000 miles (+$10)/pp will get us Business Class tickets which provides 2+2 seat configurations vs 3+3 ; wider seats; 66lbs of checked luggage; priority boarding/seating/access; and airport lounge access.

I can live with the narrower seats for 2.5 hours; our checked luggage could be under 44 lbs each; and we have lounge access through CSR, Amex Plat, and CVX, so it doesn't seem business is worth it...

OTOH, double the points at 17k each for business OW seems pretty cheap in general and I am thinking it might be worth the splurge? Also, seat selection for both classes are free at check-in. If we don't check in online ASAP, I guess we can potentially not be seated together. Since there are only 12 business class seats on each flight, it is no big deal to be split up. Whereas, we could be far from each other in economy...

Normally, a 17k point difference is no biggie but all the points usage is adding up for such a long trip!

Btw, I love business lounges but I find that I hardly ever use the lounge benefit through the premium credit cards. Anyone feel the same? When we travel on points on vacation, we usually get the lounge access through the business class ticket and not the credit card benefit. When we fly domestically in economy, either the airport doesn't have a lounge, it is super far away, or super crowded and we wind up not using it. Sorry for the tangent.

17k vs 34k miles on FB transferred from Chase. I haven't added up all the points used for travel in 2026 yet but it is a LOT. But this is exactly why we work so hard to accumulate points!

Anyway, anyone want to talk me out of or into business class tickets from SHA to SZX?

TIA!

I used AF to book our flights from PVG to KIX. Coach and it's a 2 to 3 hour flight. It was 19k pp but I was ok with that, not a ton of NS options between Shanghai and Japan with times we wanted.

I have notes on my laptop, but if I remember correctly there's a way to book the seats before checkin, but you have to upload your passport info to AF before and I can't renew until March (expires next year) so I won't do any of that until after I get my new one. And I know I can renew now, but within a year online renewal may be an option and I'd prefer to wait to see if that's an option.

 

[ten6mom]

Good morning! I know IHG isn't used a lot by all of you but I am wondering whether anyone knows if this specific thing will be a problem for me:

I recently booked 8 nights on IHG points for a Holiday Inn in Kyoto. ('pay' for three nights, get the 4th night free, x2).

I am traveling solo, so I put in one person, and it put me (I wasn't given a choice) in a "cosy" room with only one bed and as far as I could tell, not even a table or desk or anything. At first I was OK with that but then decided I wanted at least a small table to put my laptop on or something, so I went back and put in two people, and it gave me some options for slightly larger rooms (for fewer points, if you can believe it!) so I canceled my original and booked the larger one, which of course has two beds.

This being Japan, does anyone know if they are likely to give me a hard time about having only one person in the room?

 

[Sheree]

looking into an annual travel insurance plan. most of or trips are booked with csr and biz plat amex.

was thinking travel insured int'l but read comments on how tough they are on claims. there's so many

what do most of you use?

this year we have 1 european trip, 1 cruise and 1 domestic trip planned. plus wdw of course!

thanks

 

[mrandmrsthomas0618]

There is a NLL over on delta business cards in a post at DoC. There are a couple different ways to try to get it. I found a post that had a path that worked for me. Got my 3rd delta gold business card in 18 months. 90k with 4k spend in 6 months. $0 annual fee for first year.

Let me know if you are interested and need help finding it.

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

WWYD?

Originally planned on taking the high speed train between Shanghai and Shenzhen during our Disneys in Asia trip later this year.

The train travel time was advertised as 7.5 to 13 hours but most are around the 10.5 hour range on the date we are traveling between cities, all arriving in Shenzhen very late in the day. I am thinking the travel time is too long and also not cheap ($124/$199/$409pp).

A flight between cities will be 2.5 hours.

Anyway, I found reward space on China Eastern Airlines through Flying Blue for 8,500 miles (+$10)/pp for economy (includes checked luggage 44lbs).

17,000 miles (+$10)/pp will get us Business Class tickets which provides 2+2 seat configurations vs 3+3 ; wider seats; 66lbs of checked luggage; priority boarding/seating/access; and airport lounge access.

I can live with the narrower seats for 2.5 hours; our checked luggage could be under 44 lbs each; and we have lounge access through CSR, Amex Plat, and CVX, so it doesn't seem business is worth it...

OTOH, double the points at 17k each for business OW seems pretty cheap in general and I am thinking it might be worth the splurge? Also, seat selection for both classes are free at check-in. If we don't check in online ASAP, I guess we can potentially not be seated together. Since there are only 12 business class seats on each flight, it is no big deal to be split up. Whereas, we could be far from each other in economy...

Normally, a 17k point difference is no biggie but all the points usage is adding up for such a long trip!

Btw, I love business lounges but I find that I hardly ever use the lounge benefit through the premium credit cards. Anyone feel the same? When we travel on points on vacation, we usually get the lounge access through the business class ticket and not the credit card benefit. When we fly domestically in economy, either the airport doesn't have a lounge, it is super far away, or super crowded and we wind up not using it. Sorry for the tangent.

17k vs 34k miles on FB transferred from Chase. I haven't added up all the points used for travel in 2026 yet but it is a LOT. But this is exactly why we work so hard to accumulate points!

Anyway, anyone want to talk me out of or into business class tickets from SHA to SZX?

TIA!

If it were me, I'd choose to fly between the 2 cities in biz class, as long as weather isn't going to be an issue (is it during monsoon season?). When dd and I did the China ABD all of our internal fights were in economy class and it wasn't bad at all, so if you want to save points, it's something to think about. Did you check the cost of cash fares to make sure you're getting a good value for your points? Back then airport security screening was next level -- pretty much anything related to electronics had to come out of your luggage at security (even my camera battery). Not sure what it's like now.

Good morning! I know IHG isn't used a lot by all of you but I am wondering whether anyone knows if this specific thing will be a problem for me:

I recently booked 8 nights on IHG points for a Holiday Inn in Kyoto. ('pay' for three nights, get the 4th night free, x2).

I am traveling solo, so I put in one person, and it put me (I wasn't given a choice) in a "cosy" room with only one bed and as far as I could tell, not even a table or desk or anything. At first I was OK with that but then decided I wanted at least a small table to put my laptop on or something, so I went back and put in two people, and it gave me some options for slightly larger rooms (for fewer points, if you can believe it!) so I canceled my original and booked the larger one, which of course has two beds.

This being Japan, does anyone know if they are likely to give me a hard time about having only one person in the room?

If anyone were to ask you could just say "my husband got sick and had to stay home; he hopes to join me as soon as he is feeling better", or "he is held up in Bangkok on business meetings". I have done this many, many, many times, though never in Japan. It's up to you if you're comfortable doing this.

 

[ten6mom]

If anyone were to ask you could just say "my husband got sick and had to stay home; he hopes to join me as soon as he is feeling better", or "he is held up in Bangkok on business meetings". I have done this many, many, many times, though never in Japan. It's up to you if you're comfortable doing this.

I will do that if they ask; thank you!

 

[hsmamato2]

For anyone that uses the United Travel Bank credits that come with the IHG Premier card... just a reminder that it's that weird bi-annual time where we have two $25 credits actively overlapping, for a total of $50 right now. Only lasts a few days... get it while it's hot! lol

how do I find out more? So I started the mileage+ acct- and linked the ihg card.... it's just unclear what I have to do next?

 

[SleepyatDVC]

If it were me, I'd choose to fly between the 2 cities in biz class, as long as weather isn't going to be an issue (is it during monsoon season?). When dd and I did the China ABD all of our internal fights were in economy class and it wasn't bad at all, so if you want to save points, it's something to think about. Did you check the cost of cash fares to make sure you're getting a good value for your points? Back then airport security screening was next level -- pretty much anything related to electronics had to come out of your luggage at security (even my camera battery). Not sure what it's like now.

We will be traveling at the end of September, so tail end of monsoon season I guess.

The cash rate for the business class ticket is $967/pp, so the getting 0.056/point.

I pulled the trigger and got the biz class tickets!

It's our anniversary trip and we actually will be flying the day before our actual anniversary.