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

[lsutigers03]

Yes, This is my second billing cycle on this card and the first cycle the points arrived right away. I'm glad to hear this has happened before. It's a bit unnerving to not see those 80,000+ RR either in my SW account and the pending points on my CC as 0.

In my experience with partner cards the points from spend will post right away but the bonus will take a bit longer. With Chase I've had a slight delay with Southwest and IHG. Give it a few more days and you'll see the bonus points.

 

[calypso726]

Seconding the thanks for posting the pictures from this trip. I was telling my DH about it and I think I may have convinced him to try for it. If you don't mind, how did you amass the Marriott points to book the JWMM? You may have mentioned it previously so, feel free to point me there if so. Some of our favorite properties are Marriotts but it's also one ecosystem that I find the hardest to amass points it. We've taken advantage of some of the point transfer bonuses in the past. Booking through points would make this trip possible, otherwise it's hard to rationalize it with cash at this point in life.

You are very welcome. If I were to start from scratch, I’d strategize getting the Marriott, UR and MR earning cards from both Chase and Amex in the order that would allow me to amass them the fastest. Depending on one’s situation, start with Chase while under 5/24 and go from there. I would do this in 2 player mode. I would not hesitate to transfer Amex or Chase points to Marriott during a really good bonus offer for this trip specifically. Generally, I would not consider such a move for Marriott. I tend to value Chase points for Hyatt or International flights and Amex solely for international flights.

Now, DH and I have already had most of the Marriott cards and were unable to pick up anything besides the no lifetime language Marriott biz from Amex due to their convoluted rules of if you have this BonBlah card you can or can’t get or hold this other BonBlah card. I had a Brilliant that I downgraded to a regular Bonvoy card and then got an upgrade to the Bevy offer for 85k points and did that. You can transfer up to 100k Marriott points to someone else’s account each year, so I transferred mine to DH’s as he happened to have more Marriott points at the time. A person can receive up to 500k from others per year. We pulled in a Player 3 and 4 with family members for this trip. This was also a first. I would absolutely use every method possible to amass what I needed to do this again. I was looking at what the current rates look like for the Great Migration season next year just to get an idea of what this costs in points now. It was 236k/night so I’d need 944k to book 4 nights and get the 5th one free. Still way better than what the new Ritz Carlton Masai Mara that opens up next week wants in points. They want mid 300’s to high 300’s a night.

If we went for this again, we’d be in the 3-5 year plan for amassing the points for both JWMM and flights. That’s mostly because I have other trips planned that I need points to make happen. We flew Qsuites over which was quite nice. It’s a good plan because there are often transfer bonuses from Amex or Chase to BA which you can then transfer to Qatar.

I can’t say enough good things about how incredibly amazing this trip was. I hate to use the same cliche and call it life changing, but I do get why people say that now. I hope you are able to come up with a plan to make it happen for you and I am happy to offer any advice and answer any specific questions.

 

[VGCgroupie]

I got an email from Air France today telling me they had a third party data system they use experienced a data breach that compromised some of my info. Says they got my first name, contact info, FB acct number, and the subject line of any service emails (which I don't think I have). Anybody else get the notice?

Yes I got the same email

 

[reliev]

@Duckbug.Ducktales Who did you talk to there? I've been going back and forth with someone from that office all day... it's becoming a waste of time, still mildly entertaining

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

@Duckbug.Ducktales Who did you talk to there? I've been going back and forth with someone from that office all day... it's becoming a waste of time, still mildly entertaining

I don't know. Sounds like you need to try a different branch, sorry. I guess this is becoming YMMV

 

[djmeredith]

@calypso726 thanks for sharing all your amazing photos! A safari is a bucket list trip for me and I think I'm going to do it next year. How many nights would you recommend at a minimum?

 

[reliev]

I don't know. Sounds like you need to try a different branch, sorry. I guess this is becoming YMMV

Found out that the link wasn't working for anyone today. 2 people told me not that branch. It's becoming work give me a link thanks

 

[calypso726]

@calypso726 thanks for sharing all your amazing photos! A safari is a bucket list trip for me and I think I'm going to do it next year. How many nights would you recommend at a minimum?

You are welcome. Absolutely do it! I guess that depends on where you are going and when you are going. As I mentioned, I heard from others who had been on longer trips in other locations and did not have anywhere near the experience we had. With that said, if you are going to the Masai Mara during the dry season/Great Migration - which is what I’d recommend- then a 5 night stay is perfect. Every trip report I have read on the JWMM pretty much is similar in terms of having an amazing experience.

Now, it took us 2 days to get there and it is taking 2 days to get back. But that’s because we wanted to fly Qsuites and coming home we found a good flight award with AF. I’m sure we could have gotten there and home sooner but I took what I could get with miles and was too lazy to keep checking for something better and rebooking flights.

If/when we return it would be for 5 nights, maybe more because I would love to focus on getting a good rhino picture and also a cheetah picture that is good enough to print. Both are somewhat elusive. I’m delighted I saw them at all. Happy to answer any questions if and when you have them.

 

[trenty]

Looks like Chase reduced the coverage on some cards for rentals seems like it affects the csp but not CSR.
https://frequentmiler.com/chase-has...ollision-damage-waiver-benefit-on-some-cards/

This is old news. At the bottom of this article it states:
Update: It turns out reader Andrew had given us a heads up about this changes last year, but we’d missed that. Chase sent notification about these changes in August and they took effect from October 1, 2024.

(They should have pulled the article or at least put the update at the top.)

 

[hsmamato2]

I don't know if that works. You can contact Hyatt to add a secondary guest or gift the reservation to the other person.

If you're not going, gifting is probably better. If you're both going, you might think about who can use the stay credit more. Even if you don't stay at Hyatts much, maybe one of you can use the brand for the Brand Explorer award.

So I already booked and entered the guest name as "arriving first"- (this works at IHG) so should I also call and add the name? It's 2 reservations total,same name on each.

 

[Mswiza]

You are very welcome. If I were to start from scratch, I’d strategize getting the Marriott, UR and MR earning cards from both Chase and Amex in the order that would allow me to amass them the fastest. Depending on one’s situation, start with Chase while under 5/24 and go from there. I would do this in 2 player mode. I would not hesitate to transfer Amex or Chase points to Marriott during a really good bonus offer for this trip specifically. Generally, I would not consider such a move for Marriott. I tend to value Chase points for Hyatt or International flights and Amex solely for international flights.

Now, DH and I have already had most of the Marriott cards and were unable to pick up anything besides the no lifetime language Marriott biz from Amex due to their convoluted rules of if you have this BonBlah card you can or can’t get or hold this other BonBlah card. I had a Brilliant that I downgraded to a regular Bonvoy card and then got an upgrade to the Bevy offer for 85k points and did that. You can transfer up to 100k Marriott points to someone else’s account each year, so I transferred mine to DH’s as he happened to have more Marriott points at the time. A person can receive up to 500k from others per year. We pulled in a Player 3 and 4 with family members for this trip. This was also a first. I would absolutely use every method possible to amass what I needed to do this again. I was looking at what the current rates look like for the Great Migration season next year just to get an idea of what this costs in points now. It was 236k/night so I’d need 944k to book 4 nights and get the 5th one free. Still way better than what the new Ritz Carlton Masai Mara that opens up next week wants in points. They want mid 300’s to high 300’s a night.

If we went for this again, we’d be in the 3-5 year plan for amassing the points for both JWMM and flights. That’s mostly because I have other trips planned that I need points to make happen. We flew Qsuites over which was quite nice. It’s a good plan because there are often transfer bonuses from Amex or Chase to BA which you can then transfer to Qatar.

I can’t say enough good things about how incredibly amazing this trip was. I hate to use the same cliche and call it life changing, but I do get why people say that now. I hope you are able to come up with a plan to make it happen for you and I am happy to offer any advice and answer any specific questions.

Thanks for sharing, I was planning to book a stay there for February/March 2026 and the rates went up shortly before the booking dates opened up so I started to look for other options as I wanted to go next year and would not have enough Bonvoy points for Masai Mara. I found Leopard Sands, Krueger Park which is in South Africa https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels/szkak-leopard-sands-kruger-park/overview/ so I have a 5 night stay booked for May next year, it was 472,000 for the 5 nights with one night free. It doesn't look like it will be as luxurious as the JW Marriott (and they don't have cameras to borrow which looks like have given you some amazing pictures!) but the reviews I have found have been good (not a ton of information out there compared to Masai Mara). We will also visit Victoria Falls and Chobe National Park. I have Q-suites flights booked there and back from Chicago.

 

[djmeredith]

Decided to go for the Marriott Brilliant in hopes of starting to accumulate pts for the safari. Unfortunately, I am still in AmEx PUJ. That complicates things significantly.

 

[wanderlust7]

So I already booked and entered the guest name as "arriving first"- (this works at IHG) so should I also call and add the name? It's 2 reservations total,same name on each.

I would. Because I wouldn't feel confident they can check-in. If there was an additional guest field I'd feel better about it. But it's just a comments field.

 

[wanderlust7]

Decided to go for the Marriott Brilliant in hopes of starting to accumulate pts for the safari. Unfortunately, I am still in AmEx PUJ. That complicates things significantly.

The Marriott biz is also elevated if you want to try that. Also, did you try without a support? Sometimes that can help, depending on how deep you're in the hole with Amex.

 

[havaneselover]

Much better luck with viator tours in London this trip than last. Semi-private British museum and national gallery tour was great but not enough time with the impressionists and we had to leave to see Six. Weather has been phenomenal. JW Marriott Grosvenor House is lovely, but I wouldn’t stay in Mayfair again (this is a Disney transfer hotel). Can’t believe we leave tomorrow for Norway.

 

[mgarbowski]

Since UT and Unlocked Magic both code as Travel when you buy park tickets, I'm looking for another alternative to buy park tix at a discount and stack the Chase Freedom Flex 5% for entertainment. I'm seeing competitive prices via AAA, specifically AAA Northeast via a subdomain of memberdeals.com, but I have no idea how they code and can't find any DPs here or at Reddit or anywhere.

Any experience

 

[orangecuse]

Does anyone know if you pay with points for a hotel on chase and oay part in cash, if that partial cash payment will trigger the $50 hotel credit for the CSP?

 

[jamesnnick]

Does anyone know if you pay with points for a hotel on chase and oay part in cash, if that partial cash payment will trigger the $50 hotel credit for the CSP?

Yes--I just used points to pay everything except $52 on a hotel through the portal, and it triggered the $50 credit.

 

[Twilghtsprkle]

That would be fine. A word of caution about prepaid rates -- they are inflexible; I almost never book them unless I'm buying CFAR travel insurance. I would book the room, then call the hotel and have them send you a link to pre-pay with the CSP -- I've done this many times and never had an issue. While speaking to the hotel have them add your name to the reservation (you can also do this from the Marriott website).

I don’t usually book a prepaid either, but it’s $200 less for 2 nights plus it’s only a week away. And we’re driving there (only 2 hours away). So I don’t think there’s much risk of not going.

In a related noted, does anyone have suggestions for a nice dinner in Boston? Not Italian since the kids and I can’t eat tomatoes, peppers & eggplants (and potatoes). It’s my daughter’s 16th while we are there.

 

[afan]

Spending 2-3 nights in Philly soon to go to baseball games and do tourist stuff. I have some of the normal places to go.

Any suggestions for food or otherwise?