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

We fly out of STL too - I sure hope Southwest gets back to lower pricing. It's just so easy, we rarely fly anything else out of Terminal 1 unless DH earns his work trip. It's always on United or AA to somewhere with an all inclusive, but with those, I don't have to do any planning or pricing. Just show up and go!
Southwest is losing money so I wouldn’t expect it. They’re massively changing their operations next year literally because what they’ve been doing isn’t working.

There is another thread now on budget board about picking an airline, others have noticed increased WN pricing as well and found themselves making sure to price check all airline options before booking.
 
Silly question. For my flight to Rome, I'll be flying on Air France from DTW. I get access to Delta Sky Club lounge. I see there are 4 at DTW. Do you just pick the one closest to your gate? Are they all about the same or how do I tell if one would be preferred?

The FlyerTalk thread is helpful...the B/C is my favorite for space but if you have enough time, club hopping might be fun. Anyway, enjoy your trip!
 
Happy New Year! Sorry, I've been MIA for a couple of weeks, but I'm trying to catch up now. I hope to post travel thoughts past/future soon.

HYATT

If you are traveling this January or February, DH has a few Gift of Hyatt Awards he can share, along with a few Club Access Awards. Just let me know if you can use them this month or next month and we'd be happy to share.

Cool on the Churchill day trip. My plan is for 4 days in Churchill with 2 days of tundra buggy bear spotting. My plan is all DIY due to most tours having high single supplements.

My cruise is on NCL. No single supplements. I got a solo balcony. Not doing Stravanger unfortunately. Norway ports are Bergen, Geiranger, Alesund. I’m already thinking of a second trip that is land based.

I've been to Stavanger and it is really nice, but you are going to Geiranger which IMHO is a much prettier fjord. Your itinerary sounds great! We went to Flåm, Geiranger, and Bergen this summer and I loved all three. I've been to Alesund before and it's really pretty. We did one DCL and one Celebrity cruise, plus spent a week in Oslo a few years ago. Norway is gorgeous! I hope you have a great cruise! :cloud9:

Thats disappointing @calypso726 - leaving the 5th night free on the table? :P

It's super annoying, but it's happened to us a few times. We were at the WA in Amsterdam this summer for 4 nights but couldn't stay longer (the ship waits for no-one). ;)

Happy New Year everyone!

I have a few trips planned this year, but probably most excited about a couple of trips to Japan! I've been before but only to Tokyo many years ago, and have been wanting to go back to Japan for a few years now.

Things about the Japan trips that I'm really excited about
- I redeemed miles for few of my flights, including two flights for business class on the Singapore Airlines A380. The flights aren't that long (I live in Singapore so it's only a 6-7 hour flight to get to Japan) but should hopefully be really nice flights!
- We have a vacation package for Tokyo Disneyland, with unlimited Special Attraction Tickets (fastpass?) for a lot of the popular rides including Beauty and the Beast, Pooh, Journey to the Centre of the Earth and Soaring, one time tickets to a Rapunzel and Peter Pan in Fantasy Springs (sadly Frozen is closed when we are there), and unlimited churros and drinks!
- I've been learning Japanese - still at a beginner level though - but hoping that this will be at least a bit useful!
I think we are going to be at TDL around the same time, because I also booked an Unlimited Package there and Frozen will be closed (I think it's a short 2 week closure) but we did get the other rides. We've never been before.
 
Did a day before a cruise last year. Pretty city, wish I’d had more time! Try to check the cruise ship schedule if you want to do the hop on, hop off bus. If a ship is in that’s nuts as the first stop is right by the terminal. You can get on at the first stop but forget getting off, lines were not pretty for those who tried that and needed back on. We planned to hop on and off but didn’t want to get stranded so we just stayed on for the whole route.

Fwiw we had a great FHR stay at Auberge Saint Antoine if you’re looking for a recommendation. Breakfast was great and the staff went above and beyond when a member of our party ate it on the city cobblestone the first morning and got injured. (Bonus for anyone catching a ship- if your ship docks at the terminal across the road bell services took us and our luggage right to bag check!).
That hotel looks nice, but we’ll probably be staying at a Marriott property on points to make it a cheap trip. Just a half year of my husband’s work travel & it looks like we enough points to take care of the hotel stay.
 

Check this thread on Flyertalk

DTW Best Skyclub
Thanks. I can never find anything on FT.
The FlyerTalk thread is helpful...the B/C is my favorite for space but if you have enough time, club hopping might be fun. Anyway, enjoy your trip!
Thanks. I learned something new. I assumed once I checked into one club that was it. Didn’t realize that I could “hop’.
 
Did a day before a cruise last year. Pretty city, wish I’d had more time! Try to check the cruise ship schedule if you want to do the hop on, hop off bus. If a ship is in that’s nuts as the first stop is right by the terminal. You can get on at the first stop but forget getting off, lines were not pretty for those who tried that and needed back on. We planned to hop on and off but didn’t want to get stranded so we just stayed on for the whole route.

Fwiw we had a great FHR stay at Auberge Saint Antoine if you’re looking for a recommendation. Breakfast was great and the staff went above and beyond when a member of our party ate it on the city cobblestone the first morning and got injured. (Bonus for anyone catching a ship- if your ship docks at the terminal across the road bell services took us and our luggage right to bag check!).

Cruises we're just getting ready to start when I was there the week of memorial day. I wouldn't worry about them in april.
 
Any advice or tips for doing universal Orlando? We’re taking DS for the first time and haven’t been since 2016. We booked a club level room at the Hard Rock on chase for 51k URs. The club level room was cheaper than a standard queen for some reason but I’ll take it! We’re just doing two days and one night, planning to do one day at each park. I have no idea where to eat in the parks
Universal is so easy since you're staying at one of the hotels that offers express pass. It can be used for almost every ride with the exception of Hagrid's Motorbike Adventure in Islands of Adventure. If you have park-park tickets, you will be able to take the Hogwarts Express between parks. Otherwise, that ride is not included. Your little guy will probably love the Seuss area as well as the Jurassic exploration center and dig area. There's also a new Dreamworks themed play area in Universal. We really enjoyed the food at Toothsome Chocolate Emporium in City Walk. Lots of people love Mythos in Islands of Adventure if you're looking for table service. For quick service, we liked the options in the Springfield area of Universal or the options in the different Harry Potter areas. I hope you have a fantastic time. Universal is a favorite in our house!
 
Absolutely! He has been an AU for 8 of so years now. I think there is a path to take. Like starting with Discover?
Yes, I've never had a discover and all my kids just app'ed and were approved for Navy Fed cards very early. But they all had AU cards and also app'ed for Chase and Amex of their own and were approved. They had Navy Fed accounts pretty much from birth so a history with them.
 
I have a few tentative plans for 2025 so far:

Ritz Carlton Half Moon Bay (on a Marriott cert)
Waldorf Astoria Cabo Pedregal (using a couple of FNCs for 2 nts and points for the rest)
Park Hyatt Chicago (using points and a suite upgrade award)
Japan (Andaz Tokyo & PH Kyoto on FNC/points, cash for a Hakone ryokan and TDL)
Flights booked on JAL-J through Avios
Alila Napa (on points)
A college reunion trip (cash booking since no chains there)
Grand Wailea (on points, hoping to change some nights to FNCs when we get them)
Andaz Maui (points plus a suite upgrade award)

2024 was great, and I owe much of it to all of you who have helped me navigate the world of credit cards and points:

Grand Hyatt Kauai (points and a suite night award)
Waldorf Cabo (on points)
Halekulani Waikiki (FHR nights)
Cavallo Point (CapOne hotel booking redemption)
AF in J to CDG on Flying Blue points
Park Hyatt Paris (on points, free suite upgrade upon checkin)
Waldorf Astoria Amsterdam (FNCs and points)
Celebrity Apex Norwegian Fjords Cruise (using 4 of those great Amex deals on our cards)
VA in J from LHR home (booked 2 days prior with FB points b/c our plans changed)
Andaz Maui (points plus a suite upgrade award)
Grand Wailea (FHR x 2 plus one FNC - upgraded to a concierge room on check-in)


It's kind of fun to see where I've been. Not too many new places for people on this board, but happy to provide more info if anyone has an upcoming stay. Also it was our first non-Disney cruise and we really enjoyed it.
 
I have a few tentative plans for 2025 so far:

Ritz Carlton Half Moon Bay (on a Marriott cert)
Waldorf Astoria Cabo Pedregal (using a couple of FNCs for 2 nts and points for the rest)
Park Hyatt Chicago (using points and a suite upgrade award)
Japan (Andaz Tokyo & PH Kyoto on FNC/points, cash for a Hakone ryokan and TDL)
Flights booked on JAL-J through Avios
Alila Napa (on points)
A college reunion trip (cash booking since no chains there)
Grand Wailea (on points, hoping to change some nights to FNCs when we get them)
Andaz Maui (points plus a suite upgrade award)

2024 was great, and I owe much of it to all of you who have helped me navigate the world of credit cards and points:

Grand Hyatt Kauai (points and a suite night award)
Waldorf Cabo (on points)
Halekulani Waikiki (FHR nights)
Cavallo Point (CapOne hotel booking redemption)
AF in J to CDG on Flying Blue points
Park Hyatt Paris (on points, free suite upgrade upon checkin)
Waldorf Astoria Amsterdam (FNCs and points)
Celebrity Apex Norwegian Fjords Cruise (using 4 of those great Amex deals on our cards)
VA in J from LHR home (booked 2 days prior with FB points b/c our plans changed)
Andaz Maui (points plus a suite upgrade award)
Grand Wailea (FHR x 2 plus one FNC - upgraded to a concierge room on check-in)


It's kind of fun to see where I've been. Not too many new places for people on this board, but happy to provide more info if anyone has an upcoming stay. Also it was our first non-Disney cruise and we really enjoyed it.

How was the Grand Hyatt Kauai? I'm looking at going there possibly in 2026. Kauai is the last big Hawaiian island we haven't visited yet. That seems like the best hotel option on points.
 
Universal is so easy since you're staying at one of the hotels that offers express pass. It can be used for almost every ride with the exception of Hagrid's Motorbike Adventure in Islands of Adventure. If you have park-park tickets, you will be able to take the Hogwarts Express between parks. Otherwise, that ride is not included. Your little guy will probably love the Seuss area as well as the Jurassic exploration center and dig area. There's also a new Dreamworks themed play area in Universal. We really enjoyed the food at Toothsome Chocolate Emporium in City Walk. Lots of people love Mythos in Islands of Adventure if you're looking for table service. For quick service, we liked the options in the Springfield area of Universal or the options in the different Harry Potter areas. I hope you have a fantastic time. Universal is a favorite in our house!
Thank you for responding! We’re really excited to try something new. Ds loves thrill rides and as of right now really only asks to go to Hollywood studios for tower of terror so we thought we’d branch out to universal now. I’d love to ride Hagrid’s but not willing to wait super long for it so I may skip it this time since ds can’t ride. I went through all of the rides with him and he’s most excited for King Kong (I thought this would scare him but he watched the video and said it looks cool) and Spiderman. He also wants to meet shrek, SpongeBob, and watch the Dr. Seuss show because he’s obsessed with the grinch. I want to ride all of the coasters since we have express pass. I think we’re planning to mostly mobile order everything. We haven’t bought tickets yet. I can’t decide if it’s worth it to get park to park for just the Hogwarts Express. Our plan was to do one park each day. I’m not sure ds will care about riding it and dh and I have been on it before.
 
You guys will have fun…Universal can be a nice change. Just a heads up 2 years ago when I was there Universal mobile ordering was not equivalent to Disney mobile ordering. It could have been an off experience but that day was the most frustrated I have ever been in a theme park.
 
Southwest is losing money so I wouldn’t expect it. They’re massively changing their operations next year literally because what they’ve been doing isn’t working.

There is another thread now on budget board about picking an airline, others have noticed increased WN pricing as well and found themselves making sure to price check all airline options before booking.
I had a feeling all the big changes coming signaled the end of an era....:guilty:
 
I changed my preferred airline from United to Delta on Amex last week, then booked a flight with a gift card leaving a $205 balance I paid with my Amex Plat. Today I received the $200 credit. I had read reports of that working, so was happy when it did! I guess the trick is to leave an amount between $200 and $250 after paying with a gift card.
 
I changed my preferred airline from United to Delta on Amex last week, then booked a flight with a gift card leaving a $205 balance I paid with my Amex Plat. Today I received the $200 credit. I had read reports of that working, so was happy when it did! I guess the trick is to leave an amount between $200 and $250 after paying with a gift card.
good to know ive been building up a united travel credit for years and I hardly fly them.
 







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