SO I think his first app was around 18 maybe.... now he's mid 20's and capable of hitting spend on his own- I think he was a bit over 20 or so before he could hit it on his own. Even now if he needed a pinch hitter I'd help out but overall he had to "earn" those points himself
I will let you know in a week. We are headed there in 2 days. Staying at Mammoth Hot Springs cabin, Old Faithful Snow Lodge cabin and Canyon Lodge cabin (all cabins have their own bathrooms).
Old Faithful cabins have a sink for washing, no bathroom. easy walk to a bath house, they were my fave part of our stay...I want to go back! And Yes, there's a lot of driving from offsite. Stay on the loop if you can.
Just as a side note, my dad always said that I consider it roughing it to carry my bags into a hotel but I would recommend staying in the park! We stayed 2 nights at the Old Faithful Inn which has tiny rooms with a hall bath. We enjoyed staying there for the history and being so close to Old Faithful. We stayed 2 nights at the Roosevelt Cabins. It was very rustic and we had a very small bath in the cabin, but our friends had a cabin without a bath. I would stay inside the park just to reduce the amount of driving and to be in the park without all the day visitors. We loved driving to Lamar Valley late in the day and early in the morning to see the wildlife. Our kids enjoyed hanging out in the Inn and Cabins playing cards and games at night.
Yes, Old Faithful cabins were "camping cabins", so communal bathroom. I think you can pay in the lodge for a room with a private bathroom, but it's still a "historic" (read: outdated) stay, lol. Our cell service was horrible in the entire OF area and the lodge wifi was basically useless, it might as well been non-existant. We saw many campers with their own internet (ie. Starlink), so if your hubby needs to be reachable that's an idea. In the Mammoth area, and even in the Canyon area, we did have better cell service.I adore all of your candid comments. And I truly appreciate them! This group is always so well versed, and so helpful! I'm trying to put this together last minute and I just knew that this was the group to go to.
My husand owns his own company so we defintely need to be able to be reachable. We cannot be in an area without cell service or wifi for too terribly long.
And for me personally, I think not having our own bathroom will be a deal breaker. I can carry my own bags (AKA roughing it lol), but I am not all that interested in a communal shower or toilet. I'll gladly pay a higha dolla for a private bathroom.
I adore all of your candid comments. And I truly appreciate them! This group is always so well versed, and so helpful! I'm trying to put this together last minute and I just knew that this was the group to go to.
My husand owns his own company so we defintely need to be able to be reachable. We cannot be in an area without cell service or wifi for too terribly long.
And for me personally, I think not having our own bathroom will be a deal breaker. I can carry my own bags (AKA roughing it lol), but I am not all that interested in a communal shower or toilet. I'll gladly pay a higha dolla for a private bathroom.
It was so nice to stay at the inspiration of WL and honestly, it was so easily walkable to other hotels and I fondly remember huckleberry ice cream (so yummy!), not to mention the thrill of watching Old Faithful erupt so often it became a "eh, no biggie" event during our several day stay.
Our P3 isn't really aware of how the sauce is made so to speak. She doesn't really know or care about the points but she does like the trips. So as she's gotten older we've helped her build credit by becoming an Auth and now her own cards. I let her know what we are doing and we make the spend for her as she's still 19 and could never make the spends. Right now all her points are still sitting in her accounts as she doesn't have a ton. Once the MSR is met she doesn't really use them We just got her a Delta card and she has a nice stash of sky miles that we were thinking of "giving" to her when she graduates for a trip. She is oblivious to how many she has or what it would translate to. All she really knows is she can check a bag for free now. I think a lot of it depends on if the player is making the spend or not. If she was paying, they'd be hers. Of course, hopefully she would be using it for a trip we'd both be going on.
I think this is a very fair way to approach it.
With digital ID with Delta in DTW it's usually a short wait for me or use the TSA in the Westin if you're not checking bags. Obviously only works in McNamara.
It's a communal effort for us right now as well. We still travel together right now but eventually they will be her responsibility both the bills and the points.
In the old faithful area, I’ve stayed in the snow lodge cabins. I found them fine. They do have full bathrooms in each cabin. Plus the best part you can walk to Old Faithful. I’ve also stayed in Canyon lodge cabins and like those as well. Staying outside the park will take at least 1.5 hours to get to the main sights.
just stayed at snow lodge "cabins" the one we were in was newly renovated. wifi worked as did cell service. parking lot was horrible (potholes)
I have noticed this as well and have just canceled my original flight and rebooked to get the lower points. A couple of extra steps but manageable. I don’t ever buy early bird though, so not sure of how that gets handled.
I wanted to give an update. I already had a SWA flight booked to Baltimore on June 24 so decided to fly in the day before. My 5 family members also going to Finland booked flights on Iceland Airlines leaving on June 25. I was able to transfer Amex points to Hawaiian Airlines and then transfer to Alaska Airlines where I booked on points. I’m flying economy but still had to use 77,500 points RT plus an additional $800+ for fees, seat assignments and meals. The cash price on Cap1vx would have been similar but the points route is completely refundable. I could have saved money by selecting free seats but my oldest sister has mobility and health issues and I wanted to sit towards the front near her and her husband. The one positive is it’s only a 10 hour flight from BWI with a connection in Iceland. We are going to Kotka which is a small city with only 2 hotels. We are staying at the Sokos which is a Finnish chain. So no opportunity to use hotel points. Looking forward to visiting with cousins. My mother is from Finland and came to the US with 3 children in 1956. I was last there in 2012 with 6 of my 8 siblings to return our mom’s ashes to the sea near her island home in the Gulf of Finland where she lived with her parents and 3 children.Hi, I haven’t posted in awhile. Mostly doing US travel. I’m going on a last minute trip to Helsinki. I’m in Houston but can reposition. I want to arrive on June 26. I’m returning from Helsinki and going to Baltimore on July 9th. I have Chase UR points, cap1 points and AmEx MR’s. Looks like any biz seats are out of reach unless I can find one for under 100,000. Is it worth upgrading from my free points.yeah to the higher level to help in my search? I may move Amex points to Hawaiian for my return to Baltimore on Alaska Airlines. Would love any suggestions or advice. Thanks
I set up my digital ID, but for some reason it doesn't ever show I have it (just checked and it's in my account as Opt In. I guess maybe I'll have to ask in one of the Delta non-rev goups). Maybe it's because we're flying non-rev. I guess if I'm not w/ the BF I could try the Westin. KCM is right by TSA precheck, so I normally meet him once I finally get through. But the Westin doesn't have precheck I know too. At least that's what they told me when I was flying to STL w/ my son for the Frozen Four. So are you removing everything and taking off shoes?
do you have Global Entry on your account? Ive been using it out of JFK/LGA its been awesome its faster then clear or precheck.
Two hours and 15 minutes is my comfort level with connecting in international airports. That's my personal gage.
