I love credit cards so much!

[tink1970]

So completed our flights for my DD's graduation trip (ABD Danube River Cruise).
Dates Jun17-July 2 (mom & DD)/July 5 (me).

I'll be flying all 3 alliances and I spent 300,000 Skymiles, 330,000 American Advantage, and 127,500 United miles (plus taxes and fees)
I'd estimate OOP (taxes and fees, upgrades for Mom and DD PLUS paying Air France) ran around $1350-$1500.

Delta-
PNS-PHL 25,000 x 2 (DD/DM-in economy) plus 40,000 (me in first)= 90,000

American Airways
PHL-BUD 110,000 (anytime award business) x3 = 330,000

KLM/Czech Air/AF

MUC-PRG (rt) $1001.58 economy (this was using the 20,000 MR earn for $1,000 spend on Amex)

Delta-(mom and DD return)

MUC-PNS 105,000 x 2 for economy then paid 187 x 2 Euro (so around $432) to upgrade to Economy Comfort

On to Krakow (Shay)

Lufthansa

MUC-KRK 25, 000 United Miles (business)

Austrian Airlines

KRK-ORD 70,000 United Miles (business)

ORD-PNS (direct, hence the crazy amount for economy)

32,500 United Miles (economy)

I guess the take home message is-

1) It's good to diversify
2) Europe in the summer is expensive to fly...especially for more than one or two people
3) Don't read seatguru too much or it will make you crazy
AND
4) Skypesos really do kind of stink.

AA miles were collected over 2 years having signed DH and me up for miles on both co-branded (citi and barclay) cards (now cancelled) and portal use. I also transferred SPG points when there was a 25% bonus this spring.

UA were collected over 2 years with CSP/CSR/MileagePlus X App/portal use.

Delta collected from flying enough to earn Platinum status (so a lot), 5 Amex card bonuses between myself, mom and DH, SPG transfers and the rare portal use.

Since my mother will be 68 and is in not the best health I tried to get her to Europe comfortably and since she and DD weren't up for a Krakow detour I needed to get them back on a carrier with which they were familiar (Delta)--to the point of the seats they've been in multiple times. Hence the spending of lots of AA miles to fly directly from PHL to BUD and MUC to ATL then home. I could have done this more cheaply (to a point) if I'd been willing to route through LHR AND flown from MUC with another layover. But knowing your audience is key so that's my experience. Hope it helps someone in their planning!

 

[ctinct]

I could use a little advice on my next move. I’m a single player who doesn’t spend a whole lot, but I’ve been able to easily meet $3000 in 3 months type of spends. $5000 might be stretching it, but i think I could pull it off.

Here’s what I have. Southwest opened 4/16, closed 6/18
CSR. Opened 11/16
CSP. Opened. 7/17
Regular Marriott. Opened 12/17
Regular IHG. Opened 3/18

My annual fee just posted on the CSP, so I’m going to call and product change to a Freedom. Because of my lower spending, I feel like I will barely break even on the net $150 annual fee for the CSR, but I’ve got around 85000 points sitting there I need to figure out what to do with. I was thinking universal or Charleston, SC, because I feel like they’d be slightly easier trips for me to manage as a first time single traveler. Sometimes having an empty nest stinks.


I think I will hang on to the IHG and Marriott cards long term, because there are a lot of day trips I could do here in the northeast even at a lower category room. I think I would like to get a new SW card in December after my CSR falls off. I’m not comfortable trying for a business card.....yet.

Only long term travel plans are a Hawaiian cruise in April 2020.

So, I’m trying to think what card would be most advantageous for me to go for now. Is there anything I should be trying to get before the SPG/Marriott window closes? I’m just a wee bit leery of trying for anything Chase, because they gave me a really low credit line on the ihg. I’ve since lowered my credit limit on one of my other cards, and of course closed the SW, but then Chase automatically raised the IHG limit. I’m afraid of not getting approved. I know I can probably call in and move credit around, but I HATE making phone calls. Yeah, it’s a character flaw.

 

[Albort]

I am coming up on my year anniversary of having the CIP. I haven’t used it much and think I would be better off having the CIC. How do I pc it? Do I have to wait for the annual fee to post and then SM?

you may have to call. Lately, most PC require you to call and cant be done via SM. Business cards might be different though. but yes, u usually do want to wait for AF to hit but thats not a requirement.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Opened two Fifth Third accounts for bonuses. Big mistake, one dropped below $500 min while waiting for transfer to post so no bonus. Suggestions for new bank account? Have done Chase and 5/3. Can’t do the high balance accounts, not that liquid.
Looking at PNC. Is it easy to transfer back to my regular bank? No min balance requirements, or did I miss that?

 

[speedyfishy]

Opened two Fifth Third accounts for bonuses. Big mistake, one dropped below $500 min while waiting for transfer to post so no bonus. Suggestions for new bank account? Have done Chase and 5/3. Can’t do the high balance accounts, not that liquid.
Looking at PNC. Is it easy to transfer back to my regular bank? No min balance requirements, or did I miss that?

PNC is easy depending on the bonus there is a minimum amount required but you can downgrade after getting the bonus. The simple checking requires $500 then you can cancel after 6 months.

 

[Judique]

Big news here is my electric bill came yesterday, and I have another $193 to put on my spend. Too bad I had to spend $250 before my Freedom came in.

Yesterday the grandchildren were here all afternoon so I didn't get out of the house.

I think I'll take a visit to Walgreen's now and break in the Freedom. I won't be using lyft, and my gas needs are only about $100 per month so it's going to be all gift cards. I have until 9/30 for the $1500 category spend, correct?

I'm going to finish up the Amtrak card today, and maybe the Freedom (the $500 spend not the category) and then I'll be ready for the new Amex Biz card. Such problems!

Moving this from accidentally having posted it on the camping board....​

 

[Judique]

@striker1064 and anyone else using possibly Pepco in the DC/Md/Va area. Last month I paid Pepco with a card for my bill. This month bill is $193 but I'm wanting to pay forward a couple months - maybe put $500 on it. Has anyone done that specifically with Pepco?

Editing to add: I created an online account with Pepco and was able to overpay with a credit card for $1.95. Not sure what they will do other than leave a credit on my account, but that was easy and I'm finished with Amtrak. I only had to put $355 on it once I checked the account.

Now, if I need to place more spend, I will probably have part of a month due in early September, and can use this method to finish off another card if it works (for 1.95).

 

[disneymagicgirl]

I’ve done 14x $50 runs to BBY.

I’ve been avoiding B.B. too, but once school starts back I’m going to have to start going a few times a week.

 

[Lain]

I could use a little advice on my next move. I’m a single player who doesn’t spend a whole lot, but I’ve been able to easily meet $3000 in 3 months type of spends. $5000 might be stretching it, but i think I could pull it off.

Here’s what I have. Southwest opened 4/16, closed 6/18
CSR. Opened 11/16
CSP. Opened. 7/17
Regular Marriott. Opened 12/17
Regular IHG. Opened 3/18

My annual fee just posted on the CSP, so I’m going to call and product change to a Freedom. Because of my lower spending, I feel like I will barely break even on the net $150 annual fee for the CSR, but I’ve got around 85000 points sitting there I need to figure out what to do with. I was thinking universal or Charleston, SC, because I feel like they’d be slightly easier trips for me to manage as a first time single traveler. Sometimes having an empty nest stinks.


I think I will hang on to the IHG and Marriott cards long term, because there are a lot of day trips I could do here in the northeast even at a lower category room. I think I would like to get a new SW card in December after my CSR falls off. I’m not comfortable trying for a business card.....yet.

Only long term travel plans are a Hawaiian cruise in April 2020.

So, I’m trying to think what card would be most advantageous for me to go for now. Is there anything I should be trying to get before the SPG/Marriott window closes? I’m just a wee bit leery of trying for anything Chase, because they gave me a really low credit line on the ihg. I’ve since lowered my credit limit on one of my other cards, and of course closed the SW, but then Chase automatically raised the IHG limit. I’m afraid of not getting approved. I know I can probably call in and move credit around, but I HATE making phone calls. Yeah, it’s a character flaw.

Hard to say. What are your travel goals? How do you plan to spend the points/miles? Are you considering the SW CP? Do you want an airline card, a hotel card -- any brand preference?, or flexible points? Are you comfortable applying for business cards?

Looks like you're 4/24 with Chase. The most obvious recommendation would be to probably apply for a business card to extend the use of that last slot until another slot opens up around December 2018. If you're open to applying for a business card, the CIC has solid 5x UR categories and a 50k UR signup bonus, with only a $3k/3 months MSR.

 

[calypso726]

So completed our flights for my DD's graduation trip (ABD Danube River Cruise).
Dates Jun17-July 2 (mom & DD)/July 5 (me).

I'll be flying all 3 alliances and I spent 300,000 Skymiles, 330,000 American Advantage, and 127,500 United miles (plus taxes and fees)
I'd estimate OOP (taxes and fees, upgrades for Mom and DD PLUS paying Air France) ran around $1350-$1500.

Delta-
PNS-PHL 25,000 x 2 (DD/DM-in economy) plus 40,000 (me in first)= 90,000

American Airways
PHL-BUD 110,000 (anytime award business) x3 = 330,000

KLM/Czech Air/AF

MUC-PRG (rt) $1001.53 economy (this was using the 20,000 earn for $1,000 spend on Amex)

Delta-(mom and DD return)

MUC-PNS 105,000 x 2 for economy then paid 187 x 2 Euro (so around $432) to upgrade to Economy Comfort

On to Krakow (Shay)

Lufthansa

MUC-KRK 25, 000 United Miles (business)

Austrian Airlines

KRK-ORD 70,000 United Miles (business)

ORD-PNS (direct, hence the crazy amount for economy)

32,500 United Miles (economy)

I guess the take home message is-

1) It's good to diversify
2) Europe in the summer is expensive to fly...especially for more than one or two people
3) Don't read seatguru too much or it will make you crazy
AND
4) Skypesos really do kind of stink.

AA miles were collected over 2 years having signed DH and I up for miles on both co-branded (citi and barclay) cards (now cancelled) and portal use. I also transferred SPG points when there was a 25% bonus this spring.

UA were collected over 2 years with CSP/CSR/MileagePlus X App/portal use.

Delta collected from flying enough to earn Platinum status (so a lot), 5 Amex card bonuses between myself, mom and DH, SPG transfers and the rare portal use.

Since my mother will be 68 and is in not the best health I tried to get her to Europe comfortably and since she and DD weren't up for a Krakow detour I needed to get them back on a carrier with which they were familiar (Delta)--to the point of the seats they've been in multiple times. Hence the spending of lots of AA miles to fly directly from PHL to BUD and MUC to ATL then home. I could have done this more cheaply (to a point) if I'd been willing to route through LHR AND flown from MUC with another layover. But knowing your audience is key so that's my experience. Hope it helps someone in their planning!

Well done! Color me impressed. I haven't even done anything that convoluted and thinking outside the box. To manage it for a party of 3, making use of Sky Pesos and fixing it so it won't be too taxing on mom is super impressive.

When I've booked flight for my mom, she is 70, I've also tried to make it easy for her too and it just means you will spend more miles. Totally worth it. If she is traveling alone which she might do once every few years then it is direct flights only and at reasonable hours of the day for departure and arrival. Fortunately, when she is traveling with us, she doesn't mind what convoluted scheme I concoct to get us there and back.

Oh I loved the ABD Danube River cruise. I would totally do it again! It isn't like a land based ABD so much of what appeals to me on those is missing. I've decided it is its own thing and just don't compare it to land based ABD trips or DCL trips. I hope you share your thoughts on the trip over on the ABD board.

Congrats on getting your flights all taken care of for that adventure!

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Mine are all over the board. Some in a couple of days and several still pending after a week.

Oh and one not in there at all. Probably will reach out on that one soon. It was a Sam’s one And I bought groceries not a gc!

Sams isn’t showing up on mine. Is it a cash back in store offer?

 

[tink1970]

Well done! Color me impressed. I haven't even done anything that convoluted and thinking outside the box. To manage it for a party of 3, making use of Sky Pesos and fixing it so it won't be too taxing on mom is super impressive.

Wow, coming from you (whom I admire so much on this board-not only for your skill but your generosity in sharing your knowledge) that means so much !

Oh I loved the ABD Danube River cruise. I would totally do it again! It isn't like a land based ABD so much of what appeals to me on those is missing. I've decided it is its own thing and just don't compare it to land based ABD trips or DCL trips. I hope you share your thoughts on the trip over on the ABD board.

DH and I actually did the Holiday one the first year it was out...so 2016 I believe (without DD who was home post oral surgery...in my defense, it was her father's year to have her although it didn't work out that way). We went as a family last Christmas on the Rhine and I surprisingly preferred the Danube. DD really wanted to do the Holiday Danube this year but she's a senior and will have 5 IA (internal assessments) to have done versus the one she had last year...we shared a cabin and she was up until 3 AM working on her vacation. I didn't think that made sense for this year, PLUS I'm excited to do the Danube in the summer with slightly different activities in some of the places (and no, not climbing to Durstein Castle again...I thought I would never make it!).

Honestly if Mom weren't with us we'd probably have done the Greece or Italy ABD but heat and long days...not a good idea. My DD gave this a lot of thought and being together was more important than anything else. She can be sweet...

Congrats on getting your flights all taken care of for that adventure!

It's a relief, for sure! Hotels are booked and I'm waiting until Nov/Dec to book tour guides and drivers in Budapest, Prague and Krakow. Now if DD would just get accepted and attend a school that accepts credit cards

 

[calypso726]

Any recommendations for Marriott hotel in Orlando? Wanting to do 2 nights for resorts days, prefernear Disney Springs, and use my rewards cert (cat 1-5). Any place with a good pool?

Marriott Village - has a Springhill Suites, Fairfield Inn & Suites and Courtyard Marriott. All 3 are cat 5. All 3 have pools. All 3 are in the same spot and about 2 miles away from Disney Springs. Fairfield and Springhill include breakfast. We've stayed at all 3 and don't particularly prefer one over the other. Never used the pool at any of them since our stays there are for Disney trips. But I hope that helps.

 

[wendow]

Sams isn’t showing up on mine. Is it a cash back in store offer?

I have an online Sam's offer for $5 off $100.

 

[calypso726]

Wow, coming from you (whom I admire so much on this board-not only for your skill but your generosity in sharing your knowledge) that means so much !



DH and I actually did the Holiday one the first year it was out...so 2016 I believe (without DD who was home post oral surgery...in my defense, it was her father's year to have her although it didn't work out that way). We went as a family last Christmas on the Rhine and I surprisingly preferred the Danube. DD really wanted to do the Holiday Danube this year but she's a senior and will have 5 IA (internal assessments) to have done versus the one she had last year...we shared a cabin and she was up until 3 AM working on her vacation. I didn't think that made sense for this year, PLUS I'm excited to do the Danube in the summer with slightly different activities in some of the places (and no, not climbing to Durstein Castle again...I thought I would never make it!).



It's a relief, for sure! Hotels are booked and I'm waiting until Nov/Dec to book tour guides and drivers in Budapest, Prague and Krakow. Now if DD would just get accepted and attend a school that accepts credit cards

Aaaww thanks

Oh that is right! I swear, I need to be like @Lain and keep a spreadsheet on everyone I forgot you had done the holiday one. Yup, it was 2016, we did the first sailing with the DVC members that year. I will cross my fingers for you too and hope her school takes credit cards!

 

[CyndiLouWho]

PNC is easy depending on the bonus there is a minimum amount required but you can downgrade after getting the bonus. The simple checking requires $500 then you can cancel after 6 months.

I see an offer from PNC for virtual wallet with direct deposit. DH can change his DD on line now, so I can do legit DD

 

[tink1970]

I will cross my fingers for you too and hope her school takes credit cards!

Thanks! When DH and I were in Monserrat we lit a Gator blue (or UNC or UVA) candle and a FSU red candle. She of course will attend a private school that only accepts checks, I'm sure! I keep subliminally putting orange fiestaware on a blue placemat and vice versa. The struggle is real.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

@disneymagicgirl how was Disney after hours? Were the waits short for the mountains? I’m leaning towards buying tickets today for next Saturday. But I’m a little hesitant because that’s our arrival day and we will be up at 4am heading to the airport lol.

I am going to write a quick trip report in the next couple days but...

We got a lot done. Went in around 5:45. Rode a few things with FP 4 and 5 of the day in Adventureland.
Couldn’t find anything we wanted for dinner so left and took monorail to last minute adr at kona. Back to park for fireworks.
....
It was a challenge to wade through the masses to start the party hours but we did it and started at splash. Did a ton of stuff working clockwise around the park.
PP line was quite long so skipped that. 7dmt was crazy long. Skipped that. Did many other things. Got in line for 7dmt at 12:52. It was still long but not as bad as earlier.
I think they could address the 7dmt line....or is there only one place to load at a time? I ask because space and btm were both loading both sides and had no wait.

My biggest complaint was the snack lines. Dd19 rode space for a 2nd time and I felt like seeing the chiro after ride #1 so I waited on a bench for her. I watched the snack line. Consistently 13-16 groups (x1-4 ish people/group) in line. Never got shorter than 13 groups. It was a time sucker. We went to snack carts 3x. So if we waited 10 mins each time...that’s 30 mins or 10% of the event time. The prob is they only have 1 person working a booth. Scooping popcorn, making more popcorn, grabbing drinks, etc. if they’d add a 2nd person the problem would disappear.

Overall it was good. Lines were short except those at PP and 7dmt. There were quite a lot of people around but much better than the holiday parties.

I’d definitely do it again over a normal park day at MK. No sun and much less crowded.

That said, they need to improve the snack cart situation, and if mine train isn’t running at full capacity it needs to be.

ETA: oh and our bus didn’t come til 2am! We were waiting at the stop for 30 mins. Every resort had a completely full stall when we got out there. By the time we left the other stalls were empty (multiple bus loads) and we were still sitting there waiting. That was super frustrating.

Speaking of busses we are on the tragical depress now. So sad.

Etaa: oh about the early morning/sleep...

Day 1 we were up at 4am for our flight and took a short mid day rest. DHS upon arrival, then to DS, rest, and Epcot til close.
Day 2 we were up at 6:30 and at ak at 7:30 for emh to ride fop. I did the pool midday while dd napped, and we left at 5pm for MK returning around 2:30am.
Slept in this morning til 10:15 to make up for it.
We walked 19 miles in 2 days. Very tiring but so worth it. You can do it. Just take that midafternoon rest before the party.
Next time I will make sure not to plan a park in the morning of the even though. Will just do a resort day and go to the event.

 

[Judique]

Marriott Village - has a Springhill Suites, Fairfield Inn & Suites and Courtyard Marriott. All 3 are cat 5. All 3 have pools. All 3 are in the same spot and about 2 miles away from Disney Springs. Fairfield and Springhill include breakfast. We've stayed at all 3 and don't particularly prefer one over the other. Never used the pool at any of them since our stays there are for Disney trips. But I hope that helps.

@CyndiLouWho - The Courtyard has a zero entry indoor outdoor pool that looks nice!

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Marriott Village - has a Springhill Suites, Fairfield Inn & Suites and Courtyard Marriott. All 3 are cat 5. All 3 have pools. All 3 are in the same spot and about 2 miles away from Disney Springs. Fairfield and Springhill include breakfast. We've stayed at all 3 and don't particularly prefer one over the other. Never used the pool at any of them since our stays there are for Disney trips. But I hope that helps.

I was looking at those. Hoping maybe we could use pools at all 3 if we stayed at one. There’s a Hilton that has a great looking pool, but it would use all my Hilton points and I’ve got this Marriott cert to use. We’re staying 5 nights as Swan for the parks part, then I thought 2 nights at another hotel for pool days, eat/shop at Disney Springs (which we never do as we are parks, parks, parks when we go. Only been to DS once when Morimoto’s opened)