I love credit cards so much!

[CyndiLouWho]

I used two different Amex Sams Club offers over a few cards. They all credited just fine. Both offers required me splitting payments over 2 cards. So I did two Sams Club transactions which resulted in 4 statement credits.

Just curious, how log did it take the credits to post? I made a purchase and split payment with 2 cards. It took 5 days for the charges to go from pending to posted, by then my GCs were delivered. It’s been 8 days since I ordered and no credit yet.

 

[AmyAnne]

We are in New York using the free weekend nights from the Hilton Aspire card. Yesterday we went to the Empire State Building for the first time. It was a 15 minutes walk from the hotel. We tried out Broadway Roulette and wound up with tickets to see Chicago last night. To be honest I kept checking Stub Hub for Hamilton tickets and nearly pulled the trigger a few times but somehow managed to restrain myself. I was surprised to see we have a view of “the ball” from our room. It’s at an angle but it was still neat to see it from our room. NYE Times Square is on my bucket list but there’s no way I’m sitting in that crowd so this might be NA option. We got 2 water bottles a day, breakfast and drink coupons too but don’t know if it’s included or because of the Diamond status with the card.

The pink ball lit up above the Hilton sign is the Times Square ball.

View attachment 339879

View attachment 339880

Views from room

View attachment 339881

View attachment 339882


View attachment 339883

Thanks for the pictures. DH and I lived in NYC for a little over a year when we were first married. I don't think I'd ever want to live there again but it might be time for a visit.

Is this the weekend you are seeing Cursed Child? I'm planning to start re-reading the series in the fall, in anticipation of our trip to Universal at Christmas. I noticed Scholastic has released the books with new cover art -- so far I am resisting, as we already have three full sets . . .

 

[CyndiLouWho]

YOU SHOULD GO SEE HAMILTON.

Heck, I can answer this one for @calypso726 lol. If you search this thread, you will see she has seen it already. She has regaled us with her adventures (I love reading about them) and is, I believe, planning to see it in Puerto Rico as well. I love calypso’s adventures. #travelgoals

 

[striker1064]

Heck, I can answer this one for @calypso726 lol. If you search this thread, you will see she has seen it already. She has regaled us with her adventures (I love reading about them) and is, I believe, planning to see it in Puerto Rico as well. I love calypso’s adventures. #travelgoals

I've seen it too but that doesn't stop me! Haha.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Well I sure don't need a 7th person to have to travel hack for.

 

[Albort]

I’d love to hear what you guys earn every month, but if you guys think it will cause too much clutter I’ll stop. I’m curious to see how next month will turn out. I have $1000 pending still because I opened some bank account for the bonus this month that hasn’t posted. My numbers may also be slightly off. The Delta miles could be worth more or less than 1 cent per point, but the URs are definitely worth more than that for me, but I’m trying to keep it simple for now.

This month, im at a netprofit of $11. sending through $7k, recieving 4222 SPG points and 14,525 UR.
Grand total of $15k, $111 cash profit. 7077 SPG, 31K UR, 1k Marriott. Point+cash profit = $954.24

as u can see, i stepped it up this month and there was a lot of good Amex offers.
Only GC MS.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Can this be considered a "business"?

I'd like to be a fly on the wall of that biz recon phone call

 

[disneymagicgirl]

So I have finally formulated a plan that non-disney loving DH and I can both be happy with. I had to present them together so he could see the whole picture. If I presented one at a time he would've stopped listening as soon as I said mickey's boat.

So he begrudgingly agreed to the DCL dec cruise that I had found on the *GT rate because it is followed by a ski trip to Breckenridge for spring break. Win for me. Win for him. Whoop!

So the cruise is about $8500 or 566k URs. I have around 450k URs and another 50k pending. I can't wait for those to post though, since this rate could disappear at any minute. So I will pay $1750 out of pocket, and refund myself by cancelling my Alaska may cruise. So that money has already been spent for awhile now since I gave it to DCL on our last sailing.
I will book flights on SW with points we already have. Hopefully we will add on a day at MK before or after the cruise. I will have to rack up some more points to book that and discounted GC for tickets.
I have bank bonus money to spend on excursions, tips, etc.


For the ski trip....I am going to do the Doubletree Breckenridge. They boys and DH can walk to the lift as it is across the street. I can wander through the shops in town there with DD3 when she gets sick of falling (errr skiing). Hotel on hilton points and flights can be booked in August on release day via southwest.

I will be canceling Alaska for 2019, but we are now moving during that time anyways, and with DD being so young it is probably best to hold off on that for a bit. Maybe I will book a placeholder onboard in Dec to hold Alaska 2020.

Whoohooo! Finally a plan I can live with, is mostly or possibly all FREE, and everyone gets something they like! All 4 of the kids love mickey's boat as much as I do, and the 2 youngest will celebrate their bdays onboard...3 and 9! How exciting! Thank you all for your help and guidance...couldn't have done this without you!!!

Now I just have to call and book that cruise when DH is around to give the UR people permission. They aren't open on Saturdays in cruise/tours are they??

 

[disneybirds]

An update to my quest with Chase Cruise and Tours: Krystal called me back today and the reservation I made directly with Disney had been successfully transferred to Chase. I said I had a gift card to use and wanted to use all of it and then pay the rest with UR's. Doing it that way was not a problem at all. So while I am sad to say goodbye to 200k of my precious UR's, I am so happy to not pay any money out of pocket for this October Disney trip! Thank you all for your help and suggestions.

Oh and @Lain thanks for the information on Amex Biz Plat. I will need to contemplate over the weekend I think. $10k in such a high MS that truthfully it scares me a little!

So glad everything worked out! Hope you have an amazing trip. I spent lots of UR this week as well to book the week between Christmas and New Years. The prices are crazy that week.

 

[disneybirds]

So he begrudgingly agreed to the DCL dec cruise that I had found on the *GT rate because it is followed by a ski trip to Breckenridge for spring break. Win for me. Win for him. Whoop!

What is *GT? Looking into cruises as well. Thanks!

 

[speedyfishy]

So I have finally formulated a plan that non-disney loving DH and I can both be happy with. I had to present them together so he could see the whole picture. If I presented one at a time he would've stopped listening as soon as I said mickey's boat.

So he begrudgingly agreed to the DCL dec cruise that I had found on the *GT rate because it is followed by a ski trip to Breckenridge for spring break. Win for me. Win for him. Whoop!

So the cruise is about $8500 or 566k URs. I have around 450k URs and another 50k pending. I can't wait for those to post though, since this rate could disappear at any minute. So I will pay $1750 out of pocket, and refund myself by cancelling my Alaska may cruise. So that money has already been spent for awhile now since I gave it to DCL on our last sailing.
I will book flights on SW with points we already have. Hopefully we will add on a day at MK before or after the cruise. I will have to rack up some more points to book that and discounted GC for tickets.
I have bank bonus money to spend on excursions, tips, etc.


For the ski trip....I am going to do the Doubletree Breckenridge. They boys and DH can walk to the lift as it is across the street. I can wander through the shops in town there with DD3 when she gets sick of falling (errr skiing). Hotel on hilton points and flights can be booked in August on release day via southwest.

I will be canceling Alaska for 2019, but we are now moving during that time anyways, and with DD being so young it is probably best to hold off on that for a bit. Maybe I will book a placeholder onboard in Dec to hold Alaska 2020.

Whoohooo! Finally a plan I can live with, is mostly or possibly all FREE, and everyone gets something they like! All 4 of the kids love mickey's boat as much as I do, and the 2 youngest will celebrate their bdays onboard...3 and 9! How exciting! Thank you all for your help and guidance...couldn't have done this without you!!!

Now I just have to call and book that cruise when DH is around to give the UR people permission. They aren't open on Saturdays in cruise/tours are they??

That sounds like a fun trip! Cruise and tours is open on Saturdays idk when they close but I called on a Saturday at noon EST. Also, I called and used my SOs URs he was at work so I just called him in for a 30 second phone call to give his permission. So that’s another option if he could take a few minutes to just give his permission while you both are on the call.

 

[DisneyMandC]

So I checked in on the app for my Hilton stay at DL tomorrow. I selected room 14327. I can’t be sure, but it looks to me like that would be theme park view? It’s facing Karelia Ave. Anyone know for sure? No big deal if it’s not, but it sure looks that way on the map.

 

[amalone1013]

They aren't open on Saturdays in cruise/tours are they??

They are, but close in 2 minutes... 5pm EST. Not open Sundays.

I'll be impatiently waiting for Monday to call along with you. I love your plans! Also I would get tired of falling... err skiing... still at age 14 and I used to get altitude sickness on top of it. Every year my family went skiing, there is a story about me getting sick, falling off the lift, etc...

 

[miztressuz]

So I have finally formulated a plan that non-disney loving DH and I can both be happy with. I had to present them together so he could see the whole picture. If I presented one at a time he would've stopped listening as soon as I said mickey's boat.

So he begrudgingly agreed to the DCL dec cruise that I had found on the *GT rate because it is followed by a ski trip to Breckenridge for spring break. Win for me. Win for him. Whoop!

So the cruise is about $8500 or 566k URs. I have around 450k URs and another 50k pending. I can't wait for those to post though, since this rate could disappear at any minute. So I will pay $1750 out of pocket, and refund myself by cancelling my Alaska may cruise. So that money has already been spent for awhile now since I gave it to DCL on our last sailing.
I will book flights on SW with points we already have. Hopefully we will add on a day at MK before or after the cruise. I will have to rack up some more points to book that and discounted GC for tickets.
I have bank bonus money to spend on excursions, tips, etc.


For the ski trip....I am going to do the Doubletree Breckenridge. They boys and DH can walk to the lift as it is across the street. I can wander through the shops in town there with DD3 when she gets sick of falling (errr skiing). Hotel on hilton points and flights can be booked in August on release day via southwest.

I will be canceling Alaska for 2019, but we are now moving during that time anyways, and with DD being so young it is probably best to hold off on that for a bit. Maybe I will book a placeholder onboard in Dec to hold Alaska 2020.

Whoohooo! Finally a plan I can live with, is mostly or possibly all FREE, and everyone gets something they like! All 4 of the kids love mickey's boat as much as I do, and the 2 youngest will celebrate their bdays onboard...3 and 9! How exciting! Thank you all for your help and guidance...couldn't have done this without you!!!

Now I just have to call and book that cruise when DH is around to give the UR people permission. They aren't open on Saturdays in cruise/tours are they??

Yes they have Sat hours but you may just miss them

Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. ET, and Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET.

ETA: and now that I look at the time, yep. I took too long to catch up!

 

[Lain]

So I checked in on the app for my Hilton stay at DL tomorrow. I selected room 14327. I can’t be sure, but it looks to me like that would be theme park view? It’s facing Karelia Ave. Anyone know for sure? No big deal if it’s not, but it sure looks that way on the map.

Pretty sure the 14th floor is the top or next to top floor. Katella-facing will have you looking towards the parks, possibly with a view of the backside of Radiator Springs, and if you look further out you should be able to see the Matterhorn and our small, but beautiful Sleeping Beauty Castle.

 

[bernina]

What bank bonuses is everyone working on these days? I did PNC and Fidelity for player 1 and 2 and already have Chase. DH has pretty straightforward offer for $300 on a new Chase Biz checking that I think he’ll go for. We have a $5k MSR for DH’s new Amex Plat, are there any banks that allow Amex funding and does Amex count that towards MSR?

So far for July I’m up $578 which is primarily due to the 2 Fidelity accounts plus some gift card deals.

For June I had the PNC bonus x2 for $600 and earned about $70 in URs buying gc for 5x at Staples. We had a big redemption of URs to pay off a cruise, $3600 for around 245k URs.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

What is *GT? Looking into cruises as well. Thanks!

Generally these are last minute rate drops with no changes, cancellations, can't pick your room. IGT (inside guarantee with restrictions), OGT (Oceanview...), VGT (verandah...).

ETA: by last minute I mean after the paid in full date. This one happens to be available earlier.

That sounds like a fun trip! Cruise and tours is open on Saturdays idk when they close but I called on a Saturday at noon EST. Also, I called and used my SOs URs he was at work so I just called him in for a 30 second phone call to give his permission. So that’s another option if he could take a few minutes to just give his permission while you both are on the call.

The 3 way thing is a good idea. We are at a hockey tournament this weekend so we couldn't call. Will do it Monday one way or another.

They are, but close in 2 minutes... 5pm EST. Not open Sundays.

I'll be impatiently waiting for Monday to call along with you. I love your plans! Also I would get tired of falling... err skiing... still at age 14 and I used to get altitude sickness on top of it. Every year my family went skiing, there is a story about me getting sick, falling off the lift, etc...

I am nervous about altitude sickness...hopefully we will be ok. My kids have only skied in Indiana and California, so no real mountains yet. They will love it!

Sure hope this rate holds out a few more days til Monday....No way we will pay the going rate of $12k. mmnnnn nope. Not for the Caribbean that we have already visited 4 times.

 

[bernina]

What is *GT? Looking into cruises as well. Thanks!

*GT stands for guarantee and for cruises it means you pick a room category (inside, ocean view, balcony, suite, etc) but don’t actually get to pick your room. The cruise line assigns you a room in your category or higher (although that doesn’t happen too frequently).

In exchange for not selecting a room you normally get a pretty decent discount. Of course you could be on opposite ends of the ship than your travel companions or get a room in a not ideal location. We’ve booked GTY several times and have had no issues. In fact our next cruise on NCL that we paid for with URs is a gaurantee. We were assigned our rooms only a few weeks after booking which was kind of cool. Normally they’re assigned much closer to departure.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Sooo one more question...

Frontier flights are way cheaper than SW for Dec. Fri pm on frontier is $49 one way. Southwest is like 14k points...one way I am thinking of giving them a go. Anyone here a frontier flyer? I am a tad nervous though that there is only one flight a day. So if that is cancelled....well thats a problem.

 

[disneybirds]

*GT stands for guarantee and for cruises it means you pick a room category (inside, ocean view, balcony, suite, etc) but don’t actually get to pick your room. The cruise line assigns you a room in your category or higher (although that doesn’t happen too frequently).

In exchange for not selecting a room you normally get a pretty decent discount. Of course you could be on opposite ends of the ship than your travel companions or get a room in a not ideal location. We’ve booked GTY several times and have had no issues. In fact our next cruise on NCL that we paid for with URs is a gaurantee. We were assigned our rooms only a few weeks after booking which was kind of cool. Normally they’re assigned much closer to departure.

How is the best way to find these? Is it only Disney cruises?

ETA: Thanks for the info! @bernina and @disneymagicgirl