I love credit cards so much!

[Albort]

Any of you Californians want to chime in on my itinerary? I have 2 weeks and plan to drive down the coast in January. I assume route 1 has been fixed or will be fixed by then?? Guess I need to check that. The plan:

Fly into SFO - arrive late and stay at airport hotel
Spend 3 nights in Monterey at Intercontinental on points (we like to hike - lots of hiking around here it seems)
On to Santa Ynez valley/Santa Barbara for 4 nights
Then where??? - I have 3-4 nights to play with here - Joshua tree?? Catalina Island??
Ideally, we'd like to end the trip at Disneyland for 3 nights before flying home

I was initially thinking we'd spend a couple nights in L.A. doing the touristy thing, but really we mostly want to be outside. Not sure we'd be thrilled with L.A. Any thoughts/suggestions?

i honestly find Santa Barbara pretty lack luster and not much to do. i think its a beach city. i probably cut some days there.

Joshua tree is a pretty cool place. if its not that hot, it is a nice place to hike! If the weather becomes too hot, Catalina Island is a fun place to go hiking too! If you do Catalina, make sure u book your boat trips early as they run out pretty quickly a week before.

theres a bunch of place to hike if thats your thing. Walking to the Hollywood sign looks fun too!

I’ll chime in with some ideas tonight! I love the drive down the coast! Wondering why January, and if you’re flexible on the dates? January puts you in the rainy season, so it could be beautiful weather or torrential rain, which could cause complications driving the windy roads of Hwy 1. The coast is so beautiful starting late March when the wildflowers start blooming. Last I heard, Hwy 1 is back up and running.

rain? whats rain? - a SoCal person.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

I did the exact same thing but used a real DD. the bonus was $400 at my local branch. I love PNC (formerly banked with Chase). The mobile deposit where you take a picture of the check without having to go in branch is everything!

I haven’t had to deposit a check in person in a couple years. I have Chase, and BMO Harris also has it. My mom gets these random dividend checks for like $15-20 (or one place which sends like 39 cents!) and it was a pain to trek to the bank every time. I am sooo lazy.

 

[gottalovepluto]

You guys are great! Thank you all who helped me so fast with my SW q’s This morning! After reading responses here I felt a lot better & I was *this close* to transfering URs to SW when I decided to check AA one more time for Saaver awards- and they appeared at the times I wanted! 4 round trip <500 mile saver awards for a total of 60k AA + fees. I should get free checked bags for all of us since I’m a holder of, well, various AA cards at the moment! (It would only be an 8.5 hour drive from Reno but that sounds utterly miserable. Loved both my trips that I was able to fly to DL, much less stressful so I wanted my parents to have that.)

It was a crazy day of booking a whole Disneyland trip while working as my little bro & I decided we’re taking the parents to DL for Halloween for their bdays yesterday while we all still have APs. Booked DLH for the trip (but I’m really scared about what the construction could mean come mid Sept so I’m booking a GCH room as a back up tomorrow), booked Hyatt House for our arrival night (first time there for us) and bought party tickets. *whew* my brain is totally fried I see so many different mileage currencies just dancing around in my head! I’ll catch up on everything that happened here today later tonight! I should be really excited after delving into my various points & miles & booking a surprise trip for the fam but tbh all I want right now is a glass of wine after all that (and my trip isn’t until late Sept, y’all doing super short notice trips are crazy!).

 

[CyndiLouWho]

@gottalovepluto that sounds great! Funny thing, I’ve had this sudden urge to do MNSSHP at WDW. DS has a 3 day weekend in September so I’ve been looking at flights, hotels, tix.

I have a Marriott free night cert, can anyone recommend at WDW? @calypso726 ?

 

[Angrose]

You guys are great! Thank you all who helped me so fast with my SW q’s This morning! After reading responses here I felt a lot better & I was *this close* to transfering URs to SW when I decided to check AA one more time for Saaver awards- and they appeared at the times I wanted! 4 round trip <500 mile saver awards for a total of 60k AA + fees. I should get free checked bags for all of us since I’m a holder of, well, various AA cards at the moment! (It would only be an 8.5 hour drive from Reno but that sounds utterly miserable. Loved both my trips that I was able to fly to DL, much less stressful so I wanted my parents to have that.)

It was a crazy day of booking a whole Disneyland trip while working as my little bro & I decided we’re taking the parents to DL for Halloween for their bdays yesterday while we all still have APs. Booked DLH for the trip (but I’m really scared about what the construction could mean come mid Sept so I’m booking a GCH room as a back up tomorrow), booked Hyatt House for our arrival night (first time there for us) and bought party tickets. *whew* my brain is totally fried I see so many different mileage currencies just dancing around in my head! I’ll catch up on everything that happened here today later tonight! I should be really excited after delving into my various points & miles & booking a surprise trip for the fam but tbh all I want right now is a glass of wine after all that (and my trip isn’t until late Sept, y’all doing super short notice trips are crazy!).

Hurray for last minute trips! Did you book DLH with the Disney Visa rate? If this promo follows the pattern of the past few years then the AP rates for July thru Sep should be out tomorrow. I’ll be up early checking on those! I hear you about DLH and construction. That is the main issue preventing me from booking a 2BR suite at DLH vs. 2 rooms at GCH for our Aug trip.

 

[wisconsinmom]

I want to add DH as an AU on my Freedom card. Between the two of us we should be able to max out the gas station bonus for July-Sept. The only thing is I don't want it to count against his 5/24.

What are my options?

I am considering putting it in my 15 year old son's name so we have a card for him should he ever need it but having my DH keep it in his wallet to use for gas.

 

[DisneyMandC]

I want to add DH as an AU on my Freedom card. Between the two of us we should be able to max out the gas station bonus for July-Sept. The only thing is I don't want it to count against his 5/24.

What are my options?

I am considering putting it in my 15 year old son's name so we have a card for him should he ever need it but having my DH keep it in his wallet to use for gas.

What you said will work. I've never had anyone ask me about the card I'm using, even when I've used DH's card without him being there.

Your other option is to call Chase and let them know your card has been, ahem, "damaged" and you'd like a new one. My dog actually did chew my CF about a month after I got it and I called Chase and requested a new one. It comes with the same number and everything.

 

[Albort]

I want to add DH as an AU on my Freedom card. Between the two of us we should be able to max out the gas station bonus for July-Sept. The only thing is I don't want it to count against his 5/24.

What are my options?

I am considering putting it in my 15 year old son's name so we have a card for him should he ever need it but having my DH keep it in his wallet to use for gas.

your okay with adding him. The count against 5/24 is only temporary. When its time for DH to apply for a card, get the AU cancelled and get it removed off the credit report. it may take a month or 2 to do so...

 

[georgina]

Any of you Californians want to chime in on my itinerary? I have 2 weeks and plan to drive down the coast in January. I assume route 1 has been fixed or will be fixed by then?? Guess I need to check that. The plan:

Fly into SFO - arrive late and stay at airport hotel
Spend 3 nights in Monterey at Intercontinental on points (we like to hike - lots of hiking around here it seems)
On to Santa Ynez valley/Santa Barbara for 4 nights
Then where??? - I have 3-4 nights to play with here - Joshua tree?? Catalina Island??
Ideally, we'd like to end the trip at Disneyland for 3 nights before flying home

I was initially thinking we'd spend a couple nights in L.A. doing the touristy thing, but really we mostly want to be outside. Not sure we'd be thrilled with L.A. Any thoughts/suggestions?

Not a Californian, but my DD went to college in SoCal and played a sport, so we made several trips. We enjoyed the Santa Barbara area, drove up to Solvang one day, visited the art museum and took a tour of the old courthouse in SB which was cool. We have also spent a few nights in Laguna Beach, there are some tidepools and hiking trails nearby.

If you've never been to the La Brea tar pits in LA that was fascinating.

 

[WVMomof3]

Does anyone know what MCO is like at 5 am on a Weekday? Is it even possible for us to hit the lounge if we board at 5:45? I’m thinking it is too tight since they don’t open till 5. We are flying SW if that makes a difference. I know we will have to hit security twice. We are all Precheck.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

free checked bags for all of us since I’m a holder of, well, various AA cards at the moment!

Just make sure you’re all on one reservation otherwise everyone won’t get free bags. A couple years ago, DHs reservation was separate from mine & DSs and he was the cardholder so we had to pay for our bags.

 

[GlamMistress]

Does anyone know what MCO is like at 5 am on a Weekday? Is it even possible for us to hit the lounge if we board at 5:45? I’m thinking it is too tight since they don’t open till 5. We are flying SW if that makes a difference. I know we will have to hit security twice. We are all Precheck.

The lounge opens at 5 a.m. but I think it will be too tight for you. You might be able to pop in, grab some snacks for the flight and run but even then I doubt. The security across terminals thing is a PITA - if it were me, I wouldn't feel comfortable pushing it.

 

[calypso726]

I don’t know how you can do open to close! I always take a midday break and my feet are still on fire at the end of the day!

Yes, we really should meet up next time! Dapper Days at DLH? Just putting it out there...

I think we should all plan a DISchurner Dapper Day meet!

Wow, that really does sound amazing! I’m going to have to bother you to post how you made it happen sometime.

The booking window opens up at 11 am Tokyo time 5 months out. Make sure you create a profile account to log in well before. Make sure you do some test run bookings and the cancel right away before your real booking to get a feel for it. If you don;t get the room you want keep checking over the next hour as it may be released. You won't be the only one doing test bookings and cancelling.

I’m going to find a way to make staying at the Miracosta with a Harbor view happen. #travelgoals

I highly advise doing just that! It was awesome. I'm going to try and make it happen again.

What’s the per night price on the harbor view rooms? I’ve been thinking a lot about Tokyo Disney also. I’ve done zero research at this point though. Seems daunting to get a family of 6 over there on points.

For two nights we paid about $1465. It depends on how many the room sleeps and what type of Harbor View room you book. I saw some nights at $670 USD and some at over $900 USD when I was doing test bookings.

From what I can tell, Porto Paradiso rooms start from $800/night up to $5,000/night for a suite? And Porto Paradiso harbor view rooms apparently fill up within 15 minutes of their release 5 months out, so I can’t even look at the going rate for the next five months. I’ve done some casual searches on the Chase UR portal but didn’t see the Tokyo Disney hotels on it. (The Hilton Tokyo Bay is available on UR). Not sure how it works for DVC. Maybe I’ll shoot for two nights, and the rest elsewhere in the city. Ha!

DVC can't book Harbor View rooms.

How was getting the website to authorize your card?

I have a feeling I'm going to have a hard time since I only have Visa cards (thanks Chase).

It was easy. I had no problems. I used my CSR. I did call Chase before I started doing my test bookings and told them I'd be using the card for online hotel reservations in Japan nightly for about a week and not to decline my card. It all worked fine. No issues.

I couldn't purchase tickets to DisneySea from the website because it employs a 3-D Secure verification system. I tried all our cards -- Chase Visas, Amex, Citi and Barclays Mastercards -- nothing worked. I've read for Chase you'll have to call the Chase Verified By Visa department at (800) 654-9214 for help, but I haven't tried it yet.

Can't help there, we purchased tickets when we got there. Although next year, I may try to book a vacation package if they have Harbor View rooms. We'll see.

No current plans for international travel but we just watched a show on Antarctica and that looked very interesting so putting on the research list.

We are going to Antarctica this Christmas/New Year's for my 50th birthday. There was a lot of great information on TripAdvisor and their forum has this great external link to FAQs which is a great resource
http://antarcticafaqs.boards.net

Hello everyone! I've been MIA for awhile and trying to catch up now. My Nana passed away recently and we were very close .

So sorry about your Nana

Guys.... NCL does a Vancouver to Tokyo cruise! I didn't even know that was a thing!

Addicted to DCL and waiting until the do a Japan cruise. I will so be all over that!

 

[Lain]

The booking window opens up at 11 am Tokyo time 6 months out. Make sure you create a profile account to log in well before. Make sure you do some test run bookings and the cancel right away before your real booking to get a feel for it. If you don;t get the room you want keep checking over the next hour as it may be released. You won't be the only one doing test bookings and cancelling.


I highly advise doing just that! It was awesome. I'm going to try and make it happen again.

For two nights we paid about $1465. It depends on how many the room sleeps and what type of Harbor View room you book. I saw some nights at $670 USD and some at over $900 USD when I was doing test bookings.

LOL. 11 minutes after 11 am Tokyo local time, and Porto Paradiso rooms are all booked up 5 months from now.

You got two nights in a Porto Paradiso harbor view room with a terrace for about $1465? I guess I'm looking at November right now and the rates may be reflecting the holiday season.

ETA: When booking a room 5 months out (I'm counting 5 months, not 6), can you book only one night at a time (5 months from today) or say 3 nights (5 months from today +2 nights beyond the 5 months window)?

 

[DaveL]

Well I just had to skip about 250 pages, Would never have read it all. Finally sent the email off to Disney (wdw.guest.communications@disneyworld.com) so hopefully that was the correct address. I'll let everyone know if they respond. Pretty much just laid out all what happened and asked how to have my trip in Oct go better.

I'm still trying to get a hold of Melissa or Leon, who was the first rep I spoke with. They changed their ext system so you put 111 in front of any old 4 digit extensions listed. It's still a queue system so if that person isn't immediately available, you get dropped into someone else's queue anyway. And basically what Amanda told you is what everyone other than Leon told me too. So I'm prepped for that if it happens, but I'm still trying to see if I can get Melissa or Leon anyway to at least be the TA on record.

Did you get ahold of anyone? I Have Melissa's email address if you want to PM me I will get it to you so you can email her a number and have her call. I've done that twice when making the payment and such. MUCH easier.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Hurray for last minute trips! Did you book DLH with the Disney Visa rate? If this promo follows the pattern of the past few years then the AP rates for July thru Sep should be out tomorrow. I’ll be up early checking on those! I hear you about DLH and construction. That is the main issue preventing me from booking a 2BR suite at DLH vs. 2 rooms at GCH for our Aug trip.

Hmm, the website says the Disney Visa promo goes public tomorrow. I’ll have to see if there is difference between it & AP rates mañana if they come out as well I have no experience watching for ap rates!

 

[gottalovepluto]

Just make sure you’re all on one reservation otherwise everyone won’t get free bags. A couple years ago, DHs reservation was separate from mine & DSs and he was the cardholder so we had to pay for our bags.

Excellent to know, we are all on the same res!

 

[calypso726]

Hawaii planning is kicking my butt! Usually I know I am flying SW so it makes it super easy to plan. With flying to HI and my goal of business or first class, there are so many things I don't know! Read up on reviews this weekend and I am leaning toward AA as their first class looks better. But that doesn't work with my stash of URs (right?). Though I could do a Marriott travel package and it looks like I could get AA miles...

I need some more pointers here. I read the Dischurners Reddit thread but not seeing my questions answered. How to start to plan for the flight and pick an airline. It looks like I could do AA, United or Delta. I am not familiar with any of them really. I could even go SW to the west (DEN, PHX or LAS) non-stop and then non-stop on another airline. It would be ideal to have 2 years to get things in line but I didn't start until earlier this year on this travel hacking stuff. I'm going in with the attitude it doesn't have to be 100% free but it will be cheaper than it would have been!

I have/will have 250K Hilton; 95K SPG; 350-400K UR. Flying from Columbus Ohio.

Kind of rambling so TL/DR:
1. How to research travel hacking to HI
2. Experiences on airlines, especially first class
3. How to plan flights to find mile/award flights

TIA, CC gang!

@Albort gave you some great tips. Here is what I did to research. I checked Google flights and Momondo for random dates from my two closest airports to MIA - HNL and FLL - HNL just to see what airline popped up the most. It was AA for me. AA has a rule about not being able to get the bonus for a family of cards within 24 months after opening or closing said card. I'll get to that later. Let's work with what you have in hand right now.

SPG transfer to AA and for every 20K points you get an additional 5K points. So theoretically 80K SPG points will get you 100 AA miles. But you can do better than that with a Marriott air and hotel travel package and this is what I would do so you are right to look at that option. If you transfer over 90K SPG points to Marriott and you would get 270K Marriott points to get the package. That would be 120 AA miles AND a 7 night category 1-5 hotel certificate. Transferring to United would get you 132K points and 7 night hotel cert for cat 1-5. You do not need to have flights booked or a hotel picked out. The miles just go to your account. So that gets you 120k AA miles right off the bat without even applying for a card. Now we all know that cat 1-5 Marriotts are useless and I don't know if there any in HI. You could buy additional SPG points to get the rest you need to transfer to Marriott to upgrade to a higher category now that they are 35% off. You could transfer UR points (I wouldn't, they are too valuable) or you could pick up a Marriott card if you are under 5/24 to get the rest of the points to transfer.

Other ways to accumulate AA miles. Barclay Aviator personal card (50k after first purchase) and Barclay Aviator business card (50K after 1st purchase). Citi AA Personal PLat card card (50K for $3k in 3 months) and Citi AA business card (70k for $4K in 3 months). So that's another 220 AA miles. AA shopping portal and AA dining rewards network. Open a Citi AA gold checking account and meet the requirements for another 60K AA miles. Expire 6/30.

Flight 75 ORD-HNL has the lie flat seats and is a direct flight. The ones with connections that I saw DFW and PHX also had lie flat seats. The Plane Princess would approve. I was unable to find business saver award space for any dates I looked at. However, depending on when you go I saw Anytime business award space ranging from 67.5 to 125 per person going over and the same number of points on the way back. Pricing ranges in the neighborhood of $2000 - $2300 so you also have enough to pay for business/first class flights with UR points for 2 - 3 people too. If you're flexible you nail this down for next year with what you have already.

 

[calypso726]

LOL. 11 minutes after 11 am Tokyo local time, and Porto Paradiso rooms are all booked up 5 months from now.

You got two nights in a Porto Paradiso harbor view room with a terrace for about $1465? I guess I'm looking at November right now and the rates may be reflecting the holiday season.

ETA: When booking a room 5 months out (I'm counting 5 months, not 6), can you book only one night at a time (5 months from today) or say 3 nights (5 months from today +2 nights beyond the 5 months window)?

Sorry, I was thinking about the vacation packages which can be booked 6 months out. Booking window is 5 months out. I fixed that typo. Thanks!

 

[calypso726]

LOL. 11 minutes after 11 am Tokyo local time, and Porto Paradiso rooms are all booked up 5 months from now.

You got two nights in a Porto Paradiso harbor view room with a terrace for about $1465? I guess I'm looking at November right now and the rates may be reflecting the holiday season.

ETA: When booking a room 5 months out (I'm counting 5 months, not 6), can you book only one night at a time (5 months from today) or say 3 nights (5 months from today +2 nights beyond the 5 months window)?

I didn't book the Terrace. I booked Porto Paradiso Side Superior Room Harbor View. Correct, you can only book one night at a time for Harbor View rooms. Today is the 25th but in Tokyo it is the 26th right now so you'd be booking for November 26th today.