I love credit cards so much!

[CyndiLouWho]

Thank you!! And I didn’t realize it would get that cold there so late! The weather I looked at for Phoenix made it seem like pretty pleasant temps in april so a lot of websites were saying that was peak season. That was also reflected in the hotel prices. I noticed several Marriotts were $400 a night in April and we’re $140 in August. It’ll definitely be a points trip if I do it!!

The weather differences between Phoenix and Flagstaff or Grand Canyon are drastic. When we were there Phoenix 105, rim 80, Canyon floor 130. Flagstaff was also 75-80. It’s in the mountains. According to some locals, Flagstaff is much pricier than Phoenix because it is a resort town with skiing in winter. We mostly drove thru Sedona and weather was hotter. The mountain drive from Flagstaff to Sedona was hair-raising but beautiful. Sedona is very New Age and most of what we saw was shopping.

 

[pillow]

I would guess most people don’t really “hike”the Canyon. The rim trail is basically walking a paved trail. Once outside the Village (hotel/restaurant area) it is more hilly but there are buses that run up and down the trail. I have a bum knee and hiked into the canyon for all of 10 minutes, then back up. We did walk the rim trail back and forth past the hotels and gift shops then took buses the rest of the time. The weather at the rim was pleasant, 75-85 and breezy most of the time, cool at night. I wouldn’t go out hiking far in mid afternoon (took that time to relax and have ice cream) but otherwise it was good. Phoenix however was 105+ and I wouldn’t enjoy that at all.

As for peak season, I’m not sure April is peak in the Canyon (some seasonal stuff doesn’t open til May there) but they book 11 months out, so you can check to see what’s available now if you want to stay at the rim (grandcanyonlodges.com) We stayed at the Hampton Inn Flagstaff East which has been open maybe 6-8 months and is very nice. Also stayed in Williams AZ, which is on Route 66, one night.

In October, DH and I hiked from the North Rim to Phantom Ranch at the bottom. Spent 2 nights there and then hiked out to the South Rim. It was incredible! Best adventure ever and my favorite vacation! If you can manage to get below the rim - even for just a mile or two, it is really beautiful - and a completely different experience from rim viewing. So gorgeous out there. We want to go back and hike again!

 

[CyndiLouWho]

My son wanted to go all the way to the bottom.

According to a ranger we talked to it’s a hell of a hike. It’s at least 2 days. But I’d bet it’s amazing. The ranger told us every time he hikes back up, he swears he’s never doing it again, then marvels at how amazing it was. And does it again the next week. He said it’s definitely not great “in the moment” but better on reflection. Lol.

 

[kmc8826]

Another benefit to using Hyatt points is that the resort fees are included. They add up quickly. It definitely seems worth it to upgrade to club level for the lounge. Your boys will love the pool with the cliff jumping too. My big boys (22 and 24) did!
The wrist bands are the rubber wrist bands. They gave me a 5th no questions asked last spring.
We're a family of 5...never really fit in a hotel room which was the #1 reason we bought DVC. My kids are in a limited Disney phase these days (DD19, DS23, DS25) but still enjoy travelling with us. We've been renting out a large portion of our points the past few years to try different vacations. My DD's spring break is the first week of March, I'm hoping the Bahamas will be warm enough.

Yes if you stay on Hyatt points no resort fees. Our only out of pocket cost in Maui was parking.

Yes another family of 5. I did see that you could put a roll away in the Jurassic World rooms. Trying to fit and stay on property is exactly why I am going to buy into DVC. Well that and the whole paying for parking thing which still makes me mad.

 

[amalone1013]

Just did the math and once DHs CIP bonus posts (I can see it pending) we'll have 265k UR points! How did that happen?

I need one more hotel night for our September trip. Right now I've got Cabana Bay on UR pts for one night, RPR for one night using up my hotels.com gc stash plus my free night ($110), and 6 nights at the Dolphin. I need to cover a night between RPR and the Dolphin.

Hmmm, I could book a room at Pop for a night plus our tickets for the trip, comes to $1186 or 79k UR pts...

Yes, we will be the crazy people doing one night at each hotel. But since we won't be dragging around wedding attire and accessories, we can hop to save a few points/cash... like RPR is $160 more for Friday night and we land at MCO at 11pm, so...

 

[Albort]

alrighty, im in need some of your help.

im creating a flyer for my summer school class on credit card churning. I have so far added requirement and samples of what kinds of trip you can do but what info do you think should go on it.
its a speech class so im pretty much gonna make a speech about credit card churning. haha. any suggestions?

 

[pillow]

We hiked all the way down to Skeleton Point on the South Khabab trail. It was so cool. Six mile round trip with 2000 ft elevation change. It was so hard coming up but I am so glad we did it. My son wanted to go all the way to the bottom. Maybe one day we come back and try that. There may still be snow in April though. I tried to post some pics but my file said too big.

DO IT!! We hiked out on Bright Angel. It has shade and water. Its longer but not as steep as South Kaibab.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

In October, DH and I hiked from the North Rim to Phantom Ranch at the bottom. Spent 2 nights there and then hiked out to the South Rim. It was incredible! Best adventure ever and my favorite vacation! If you can manage to get below the rim - even for just a mile or two, it is really beautiful - and a completely different experience from rim viewing. So gorgeous out there. We want to go back and hike again!

I admire that! With my bad knee, going down is worse than up, so making it 10 minutes in was a struggle. But it was amazing.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

alrighty, im in need some of your help.

im creating a flyer for my summer school class on credit card churning. I have so far added requirement and samples of what kinds of trip you can do but what info do you think should go on it.
its a speech class so im pretty much gonna make a speech about credit card churning. haha. any suggestions?

Wait what? You’re sharing all our secrets?! JK

Is the flyer an advert of sorts for churning?

 

[Albort]

Wait what? You’re sharing all our secrets?! JK

Is the flyer an advert of sorts for churning?

more informative than advertisement

 

[pillow]

I admire that! With my bad knee, going down is worse than up, so making it 10 minutes in was a struggle. But it was amazing.

I like hiking up more than down too. The first 3 miles going down was really steep. We have hiking poles, which helped a lot. But hiking out was easier for me.

 

[Albort]

Sample of what it looks like so far...

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Sample of what it looks like so far...

that looks pretty good. Includes the stuff I was going to suggest.

 

[pillow]

alrighty, im in need some of your help.

im creating a flyer for my summer school class on credit card churning. I have so far added requirement and samples of what kinds of trip you can do but what info do you think should go on it.
its a speech class so im pretty much gonna make a speech about credit card churning. haha. any suggestions?

You could do a “myths” section. Show how credit scores often go up vs down since credit utilization % decreases. So many think their scores will get trashed when its really the opposite.

Edited . . . Completely skipped “flyer” and was thinking you wanted presentation ideas. I like the flyer!

 

[Lain]

Sample of what it looks like so far...

This is at Cal? I could BART over there and maybe learn something new!

 

[Albort]

You could do a “myths” section. Show how credit scores often go up vs down since credit utilization % decreases. So many think their scores will get trashed when its really the opposite.

Edited . . . Completely skipped “flyer” and was thinking you wanted presentation ideas. I like the flyer!

will do a presentation as well, this is a speech class. But i want them to walk away with the basic info. :]

This is at Cal? I could BART over there and maybe learn something new!

in socal haha.

 

[amalone1013]

alrighty, im in need some of your help.

im creating a flyer for my summer school class on credit card churning. I have so far added requirement and samples of what kinds of trip you can do but what info do you think should go on it.
its a speech class so im pretty much gonna make a speech about credit card churning. haha. any suggestions?

1. Can you get a business card for this?

 

[Albort]

This is at Cal? I could BART over there and maybe learn something new!

ahh, i see where your getting from now haha. It was part of the templete lol. I just saved it there for the format. :]

 

[wendow]

Includes everything I can think of too @Albort. Looks good! It makes me want to attend!

 

[speedyfishy]

Yes it did! Hmm so maybe there’s hope for me yet. I wonder if I can find a number to just call tomorrow or if I should just wait.

I’m deeply offended by this Heaven help me if I’m ever part of a Chase shutdown because I’ve never been denied for a credit card and am mad enough about this one haha!!

I hope you get approved. Rejection stinks I called a million times and couldn’t get approved for the CIC. I’ll be trying again soon lol