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

[speedyfishy]

We just came home from Maui on Wednesday. We were right next door to you in a condo at Wailea Beach Villas. We’ve stayed at The Grand Wailea, and your experience is spot on in my opinion. We used the restroom at GW a couple of times while down on the beach. The pool did look extremely busy. The chair situation is disappointing. Even Wailea beach was people soup sometimes. My husband always gets sticker shock from the price of everything at GW. That valet parking cost is insane. Sounds like you had a fantastic trip. I absolutely love Maui, and we had another amazing family vacation. Even though it is expensive, I love the location, and walkability of the Wailea resorts area. I also find Wailea Beach to be perfect for all activities from snorkeling to boogie boarding depending on the time of day. Thanks for sharing your experience.

We left Maui the 30th. Maybe I saw you at the beach! lol I’m glad you guys had a great trip. We really love Maui too. The beach mostly emptied out at night which was the best time to go. We would swim then until it got dark. The beach is perfect. The Grand Hyatt Kauai gives me anxiety every time DH goes in the water with the huge waves. And Aulani is a boring lagoon. And Waikiki Beach is people soup lol (the smells there are interesting lol)

I hope I can save up some Hilton credits to use or stack a trip in between quarters to go again. Having a lot of “credits” really helped the ridiculous pricing not matter as much. I think I would cry paying those prices at that resort for real. I would probably cut back on the food at the resort if we go back. I think I spent $47 on a 4 piece fried chicken meal. And $17 for a kids grilled cheese with chips lol There are so many good restaurants in the area, it’s really not necessary to eat there. It just was easier.

 

[orangecuse]

Ooo timely conversation as we are approaching the dates opening to book our Hawaii flights. We have the Westin Hapuna booked for the Big Island and are picking a B&B in Volcano for those days. Im not sure where to stay in Maui- I was thinking a Hyatt? Does anyone have experience with their Maui locations?

 

[orangecuse]

@pinkxray we are back! We loved it!

Trying to bullet my thoughts:

1. Lots of kids on board the Koningsdam for this itinerary so definitely a younger crowd than the Holland "reputation". It was probably a 30/30/40 split of young families, 30s/40s groups, and older people.

2. My kids don't do the kids club but we met the director several times because he came to all of the trivias and kid focused events. He is SO nice and he knew every kid who was doing the program by name and they all seemed excited to see him.

3. They have a program to get your junior ranger badge on board for Glacier Bay day which is awesome, also stamps for the passports if they have a National Park Passport! Gold Rush in downtown Skagway also has a stamp as that is also part of the NPS.

4. The pools and hottubs always seemed to have some kids in there so no worries about adults only vibes. The main pool also is roofed in so people were swimming every day.

5. We did a lot of trivia (and many other families did too!) and we won 3x! They give cool collectible wooden roses.

6. Food was great! The lido has a nice variety and they always have a kids corner if you need a pbj or cheese sandwich one night. My 7 year old is adventurous but my 5 year old is a moody eater so it was nice to know we had a quick easy safe option of pbj at the buffet if he was in a mood.

7. The dive in is free and great, as is the pizza place. The dutch cafe has free snacks including a cream puff in the evenings the size of your head- very fun for kids!

8. We did brunch and tea time on sea days too! Tea has little plates of snacks which was fun and lots of cream and sugar if your kids are unsure about tea lol Between stuff like this, trivia, movies/presentations on the pool deck and world stage (like a presentation on orcas and the itirod, disney nature docs at night etc) and wild life viewing and our excursions, we rarely had down time. When we did, all rooms have free tv with TONS of movies and some live TV channels. The kids watched ice age one night and we did house hunters on HGTV before bed haha

Edit 9- I forgot! There is also an art studio on 12 with free classes! Unless it says coloring for adults, kids are welcome! There is coloring classes, waterpaint, and origami! My kids did the painting once and liked it but 12 does feel more motion than elsewhere just fyi! Also it fills up FAST. Arrive 30 min early.

Honestly I never worried about being out of place and never got a stuffy vibe. We booked another cruise with them with the kids for 2027!

 

[IFlossU]

Ooo timely conversation as we are approaching the dates opening to book our Hawaii flights. We have the Westin Hapuna booked for the Big Island and are picking a B&B in Volcano for those days. Im not sure where to stay in Maui- I was thinking a Hyatt? Does anyone have experience with their Maui locations?

I understand the Hyatt Regency in Ka’anapali is nice. The only negative I’ve heard is that the beach in front is corroding. I saw it in person last week, and yes, there’s very little beach directly in front of the resort. However, it’s an incredibly short walk to some beautiful beach front. I wouldn’t hesitate to stay there.

Also the Andaz in Wailea. This is another incredible property. Great beach access right in front of resort, and a great walking path to all the other Wailea area resorts and beaches. If it was just DH and I, I would choose the Andaz. I absolutely love this area of Wailea for access to great beaches, shopping, and restaurants with very little driving required.

 

[pinkxray]

@orangecuse-

Sounds like an amazing time. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Limes96]

Anyone looking for cheap United flights to book and cancel later to preserve the IHG United travel bank credit during this week when both $25 credits are available? The cheapest I can find is LAS-LAX for $77 but I’m looking for something even closer to $50.

 

[AndreaDM]

Anyone looking for cheap United flights to book and cancel later to preserve the IHG United travel bank credit during this week when both $25 credits are available? The cheapest I can find is LAS-LAX for $77 but I’m looking for something even closer to $50.

Thanks for the reminder! I was waiting to book positioning flights to IAD for our flight to Barcelona in Nov, and totally forgot!

 

[palhockeymomof2]

Check your SW flights some of my ISP-MCO flights went down to 3,500 points

 

[elgerber]

Before I see if Amex will finally bless me with one of those NLL Delta biz cards... we can still pay property taxes and insurance premiums with Amex for MSR without an issue?
Assuming they will approve me, we have been in pop up jail for years.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Also the Andaz in Wailea. This is another incredible property. Great beach access right in front of resort, and a great walking path to all the other Wailea area resorts and beaches. If it was just DH and I, I would choose the Andaz. I absolutely love this area of Wailea for access to great beaches, shopping, and restaurants with very little driving required.

Would you consider the Andaz a good choice for first time HI visitors? I’m secretly hoping DS will pick Hawaii for his graduation gift in 2027. Right now he’s considering CA, HI or Boston.

 

[mrandmrsthomas0618]

Check your SW flights some of my ISP-MCO flights went down to 3,500 points

Thanks for this! I saved quite a bit today across our few trips. Most of my flights went down.

 

[mmmears]

Ooo timely conversation as we are approaching the dates opening to book our Hawaii flights. We have the Westin Hapuna booked for the Big Island and are picking a B&B in Volcano for those days. Im not sure where to stay in Maui- I was thinking a Hyatt? Does anyone have experience with their Maui locations?

We've stayed at the Andaz a few times on points (with another trip coming up soon), the WA down the beach path (a Hilton) and the Four Seasons next door to the WA. I really like the Andaz, especially if you have Globalist (because the breakfast is great). DD loves the WA (Grand Wailea) because we went there a lot when she was small - the pool there is fantastic for active kids. All have amazing beach access with snorkeling right there. I love the Wailea area of Maui - it's quieter and less congested than the Kaanapali area, plus the beaches seem better to me.

Would you consider the Andaz a good choice for first time HI visitors? I’m secretly hoping DS will pick Hawaii for his graduation gift in 2027. Right now he’s considering CA, HI or Boston.

Not the person you asked, but anywhere in the Kihei, Wailea, Kaanapali area would be fine for a first time visitor. I guess it could depend on what you want to do when there (do you want to enjoy the beaches or run around seeing all the sights?)

 

[IFlossU]

Would you consider the Andaz a good choice for first time HI visitors? I’m secretly hoping DS will pick Hawaii for his graduation gift in 2027. Right now he’s considering CA, HI or Boston.

Andaz would be fantastic. I’ve walked around all the Wailea resorts, and honestly I don’t think there’s a bad choice among any of them. Wailea is gorgeous, and I love being able to walk to restaurants, shops, Island Market grocery is right there. Wailea beach is one of my absolute favorites. Andaz sets up beach chairs for guests (not sure if there’s an additional cost) but just a perfect area in my opinion. I think you would love it!

 

[wanderlust7]

Ooo timely conversation as we are approaching the dates opening to book our Hawaii flights. We have the Westin Hapuna booked for the Big Island and are picking a B&B in Volcano for those days. Im not sure where to stay in Maui- I was thinking a Hyatt? Does anyone have experience with their Maui locations?

The Hana-Maui Resort (Hyatt) is supposed to be nice if you can fit in a couple nights in Hana. Most people do the Road to Hana as a day trip, as have we. But I really enjoyed the time we spent 3 nights near Hana in a vacation rental. Much more relaxing and we got to do things past Hana that we didn't get to before. Some pictures here of the things we did past Hana.

 

[LilSweetPeaPhoto]

Call and ask if they will waive the late fee. This happens to me every couple of years and I have yet to have a CC not agree to refund the fee.

I would but I feel like I have already on both these cards in the past. Might still be worth trying, LOL.

 

[lsutigers03]

It's the lovely time of year for DW and I where tuition fees hit. Part of it will be covered by an Amex business gold bonus spend. The rest was supposed to be covered by the Capital One spark cash offer. However I was declined. So I went to Chase. I was approved for another CIU. I rolled the dice for DW and she was also approved for another CIU. We both had two active Chase business cards when we applied. The bonuses along with the support for both applications will give us more Chase points than we would have gotten cash with Capital One and the spend requirement is less. Also, I should be able to get both bonuses posted and transferred to my CSP before October 26.

 

[smallsy]

Check your SW flights some of my ISP-MCO flights went down to 3,500 points

How are we rebooking these now-- cancel and rebook? I can't convince my cheap DH to get anything but the basic fare so it's not changeable

 

[Sheree]

ok my af for my csr hit on 7/1. so I can pay it now, use my $300 travel credit which should reset now and pc down to csp tog et most of af back?
anything else?
of course hotels and cruise hit this statement before travel credit reset. can i do united tb to get the $300?
i guess 1,25 will be ok vs 1.5 ugh

 

[smallsy]

Add me to the delta biz gold club! First time with a skypesos card, but we do plan to use delta more since SW has dropped so many flights from our local airport.

 

[palhockeymomof2]

How are we rebooking these now-- cancel and rebook? I can't convince my cheap DH to get anything but the basic fare so it's not changeable

I book on points so yes cancel and rebook…I will say some flights were the same price for anytime fares which include EBCI so depending on if I was set on flying SW vs booking them as a back up in case anything went south with the JB flight