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

[cruisehopeful]

Woke up this morning and logged into my Discover account and saw the message..."Welcome to Capital One". Logged into my Capital one cards and saw nothing. Will be interesting to see if anything changes or merges. Would be nice if the Discover 5x times quarters can be apply to Capital one but i'm sure wishful thinking.

I got my email from Discover today telling me that Discover is now part of Capital one. It doesn't look like anything is changing right away.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Be prepared for anything, weather wise! We had 6 inches of snow that shutdown the south entrance for several hours towards the middle of our trip, and we were hiking in fresh powder, and then we had 70 degrees at the end of our trip. We went from wearing beanies and heavy Cotopaxi fleeces and thermal base layers, to t-shirts in a matter of 4 days. Layers are your friend!!

Yes I plan on bringing layers. DS is harder to convince. He wears shorts at 40 degrees and sees no point in jackets.

 

[StephPlum]

Yes I plan on bringing layers. DS is harder to convince. He wears shorts at 40 degrees and sees no point in jackets.

My son hates that I keep bringing up this story to him. We were in South Dakota and toured Wind Cave. The guide mentioned and I reminded him twice to grab his jacket from the car. Nope; 16 year old who knows better. He was cold during the tour. Oh well I was comfy.

 

[VGCgroupie]

I've been thinking about buying one to use up credits too. Usually, given my travel needs, I upgrade to a 2 bedroom unit before traveling, so I wonder if I could use up two credits, one on the initial buy and one on the upgrade. I also wonder if they would agree to a split form of payment at either stage.

I bet they would split payment. They really seem to want to make the sale. I had said no and then he offered more Hawaiian Miles to do it.

 

[Haley R]

My son hates that I keep bringing up this story to him. We were in South Dakota and toured Wind Cave. The guide mentioned and I reminded him twice to grab his jacket from the car. Nope; 16 year old who knows better. He was cold during the tour. Oh well I was comfy.

Natural consequences

 

[Haley R]

Oooh, did you guys have a nice time? Like it?



We had a compact rental, no issues whatsoever, and we flew into Tetons for 2 days, then up through to Yellowstone Lake then Canyon, to Lamar Valley, then back down to Old Faithful, Mammoth, and out through Bozeman. Didn't need an SUV for any of it.
If you are entering North entrance, there are a bunch of stores and shops right before. Get some huckleberry ice cream on your way in or out, it's so good!!
One of the best things I got was a wilderness guide... it's like a laminated sheet front and back with pictures of the most common animals, and cost $5 two years ago. (ETA: Just checked mine, it’s called “Macs Field Guide to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks”.) I got it at our second hike in Tetons actually, and then used it the rest of our trip religiously. Best thing I bought!! I loved having it to identify birds, snakes, small mammals, etc. So if you have kids, I'm sure they would love that! (I am a 40 yo woman and loved it, LOL. But I did see it first from a kid using it hiking). We saw it in most visitor center gift shops.
Have a blast! We also went the week before memorial day and thought it was the best time... would go again at this time for sure!

We loved it and had a great time! We actually shortened the trip by 2 days and I’m really glad. We’re finding out that 5-6 days is about perfect for trips for our family. Dollywood was a blast. We did two separate days there and stayed at one of their resorts. We did the aquarium in Gatlinburg, Anakeesta (DS loved that place), and hiked a short hike. We stayed in a cabin in Gatlinburg and it was amazing. I’ll share the link of the place we stayed. It had an amazing view. Ds kept asking to leave places to go back to the cabin.

https://www.vrbo.com/171143?dateles...2G255&cta=propertybookingdetails.general.link

 

[CyndiLouWho]

My son hates that I keep bringing up this story to him. We were in South Dakota and toured Wind Cave. The guide mentioned and I reminded him twice to grab his jacket from the car. Nope; 16 year old who knows better. He was cold during the tour. Oh well I was comfy.

Yep my son to a tee. A few months ago he had a training class outdoors (March in Chicago). We dropped him off & went shopping. When we returned he jumped in the car complaining he was cold. I said I told you to wear long pants and a jacket. He said it was too much standing around and if he was running around he’d have been fine. That’s why layers are good.

 

[DuckLo]

For the first time ever, I'm getting ready to do the Chase bank bonus (Both checking and savings). How easy is it to close the savings account after the 90 days? We want to keep the checking account open, however, as we intend to start using Chase as they are expanding footprint in our area now.

I did this back in the fall and just closed the savings. All it took was a couple messages via their portal and a day or so to process (I just had them move the money to the Chase checking, which we want to keep for the Disney debit card).

 

[reliev]

Trip insurance comment: if you’re traveling with a senior and have a Costco membership, their trip insurance rates are decent. It’s 5% if you book through Costco and 6.5% otherwise. The rates I was getting from insure my trip were more in the 8-12% range with the 8% policies having much lower limits. When I’m traveling with my daughter, squaremouth or insure my trip are fine/economical.

have you ever quoted with alianz for an annual plan? I feel its reasonable.

 

[Crazed4DisneyinSC]

I did this back in the fall and just closed the savings. All it took was a couple messages via their portal and a day or so to process (I just had them move the money to the Chase checking, which we want to keep for the Disney debit card).

Awesome, thank you! I just opened an account online, so easy! I picked the castle as my debit card design, lol, can't wait to get it

 

[Crazed4DisneyinSC]

We loved it and had a great time! We actually shortened the trip by 2 days and I’m really glad. We’re finding out that 5-6 days is about perfect for trips for our family. Dollywood was a blast. We did two separate days there and stayed at one of their resorts. We did the aquarium in Gatlinburg, Anakeesta (DS loved that place), and hiked a short hike. We stayed in a cabin in Gatlinburg and it was amazing. I’ll share the link of the place we stayed. It had an amazing view. Ds kept asking to leave places to go back to the cabin.

I'm glad you guys had a good time! We live less than 3 hours away so we do Gatlinburg at least once a year. I have wanted do Anakeesta, but we always go with family and none of them have been on board. I'm tempted now to just do it next trip without them! We have yet to do Dollywood also, but I guess we probably should have that experience at least once, lol.

 

[catsinawindow]

We used GuideAlong audio tour, highly recommend it!

I second GuideAlong! We used it in Yellowstone last summer and it was excellent. When I first turned it on my family all acted like I was torturing them, but by the end of day 1, we'd named the voice (Simon) and all panic whenever he turned off.

Other than that my big piece of advice is to order groceries (we used an Albertson's in Bozeman) and pack a cooler each day with picnic foods. Having picnics in some of the most beautiful places on earth was a highlight of the trip!

 

[havaneselover]

have you ever quoted with alianz for an annual plan? I feel its reasonable.

I thought about it but my travel is weird because I'm doing one trip with my mom and one with my daughter this year. Then nothing planned until next November.

 

[Sheree]

We are flying into Bozeman, starting at Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel 1 night, then 2 nights Old Faithful Snow Lodge and 2 nights Canyon Lodge. Final night in Bozeman before flying home. We hike a bit. Have hiked at Grand Canyon and in Costa Rica but I can’t do longer than probably 2 hours due to a knee issue I have. DS and DH will be able to do more if they like. Rental car is Camry size and we plan to buy a cooler and food in Bozeman before heading to the park.

we stayed at the snow lodge cabins. we found the west entrance to bozeman was actually quicker than the north entrance.
loved town of west yellowstone
if you can go out the south entrance to the grand tetons
weather: snowed in Cody WY then mid 70's
food in restaurants in yellowstone wasn't great and it was expensive. better off outside. mamoth springs was closed when we were there I think (1st week of May)
camry will work find for you.

 

[Sheree]

we stayed at the snow lodge cabins. we found the west entrance to bozeman was actually quicker than the north entrance.
loved town of west yellowstone
if you can go out the south entrance to the grand tetons
weather: snowed in Cody WY then mid 70's
food in restaurants in yellowstone wasn't great and it was expensive. better off outside. mamoth springs was closed when we were there I think (1st week of May)
camry will work find for you.

and set your gps when you are in a town or hotel area. you lose internet while driving along thee roads so can't "find"
we were using carr play gps but even using google maps, couldn't always connect. no service

 

[Haley R]

I'm glad you guys had a good time! We live less than 3 hours away so we do Gatlinburg at least once a year. I have wanted do Anakeesta, but we always go with family and none of them have been on board. I'm tempted now to just do it next trip without them! We have yet to do Dollywood also, but I guess we probably should have that experience at least once, lol.

If we didn’t have DS I probably would skip Anakeesta honestly. We had fun because we did all of the playgrounds with the big slides with him. He loved it. I’ve heard the mountain coasters are better other places too.

If you do Dollywood and plan to ride rides, I highly suggest staying onsite and upgrading their resort time saver to the premium one. It was 100% worth the cost when we went

 

[georgina]

I thought about it but my travel is weird because I'm doing one trip with my mom and one with my daughter this year. Then nothing planned until next November.

Similar, I book per trip as they are usually more than a year apart. I have been using squaremouth to find the best plan per trip. An acquaintance recently told me of her relative who had a heart attack on a river cruise in Europe and had bypass surgery in Germany. Apparently they had not added any medical insurance before there trip. Even if I don't book trip cancellation insurance, I always have medical insurance.

 

[disneybirds]

You are already doing one of the tips I would give. Pack/buy a cooler and groceries and have lunch from it. You never know where you’ll be when you get hungry in the middle of the day.

June is a great time with long daylight hours and lots of babies! Have fun!!

I definitely agree with buying food before you get into the park! Maybe it has gotten better since we went, but we got very tired of the food selections at the stores and restaurants in the park. We loved our trip even though it was as close to camping as I ever want to get at the Roosevelt cabins. Have fun!

 

[disneybirds]

Everything from that chase sapphire rumor has been launched like the 2 stores no one heard of I think its not going to be a rumor for much longer, and I'm sorry, I don't know why I'm so worked up over something not finalized.

What are your thoughts on upgrading from the CSP to the CSR before the price increases? I know that it takes a few months for the AF to actually post. DH has a CSR that we will probably downgrade in Jun/Jul. I like to keep one CSR between the two of us.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

We used GuideAlong audio tour, highly recommend it!

I second GuideAlong! We used it in Yellowstone last summer and it was excellent. When I first turned it on my family all acted like I was torturing them, but by the end of day 1, we'd named the voice (Simon) and all panic whenever he turned off.

Other than that my big piece of advice is to order groceries (we used an Albertson's in Bozeman) and pack a cooler each day with picnic foods. Having picnics in some of the most beautiful places on earth was a highlight of the trip!

Guide Along for Yellowstone is available in the Chase portal so I can use points for it! (My goal is free not always best value)

I definitely agree with buying food before you get into the park! Maybe it has gotten better since we went, but we got very tired of the food selections at the stores and restaurants in the park. We loved our trip even though it was as close to camping as I ever want to get at the Roosevelt cabins. Have fun!

We had planned a stop at Walmart to get a cooler and food. Got the idea from @StephPlum trip report but it seems quite a few agree.
Thanks for all the input and ideas!!