I love credit cards so much!

[tink1970]

Apparently I'm going where the action is in March!

I'd looked at three hotels-Hotel Amigo, Marriott Grand Palace and Hilton Brussels Grand Palace. Hilton had only prepaid or no cancel fares; Marriott had only prepaid/"special event" fares and Hotel Amigo was fairly expensive even for me

So, since I have an amex offer of $100 off of $600 prepaid hotel with Amex Travel, figured I'd use it. Nothing available for Hilton, decided to book Marriott for $605 so...$505 and 2525 MRs plus a nice room at the Marriott...check! I'm so happy when I can use my Amex Offers AND earn MRs!

Chocolate here I come!

 

[bernina]

Has anyone had success with the Citibank $400 bonus? Just successfully opened and plan to move $15k from our Amex savings over to the account. Trying to offset the $550 platinum AF that’s due soon.

 

[LuckyMamaInDE]

My 8/18 bad day in no way compares to Lain. Not really bad Marriott news for me. I only had enough points for a Cat1-5 Cert and I found a few places moving to Cat 1-4 that I would be happy with. So once available again, I'll attach. I didn't have final dates for next year so that is why I waited. Sorry to all who were not treated well.

My bad news is we pulled the plug on Glacier for this year. I'm sure none of you were following the fires as close as I was but it is not good. Fires in British Columbia which were blowing smoke over to Lake Louise, Jasper and Banff. Bad air quality. There are fires in Banff and just below Lake Louise. August 11, lightening started a fire in Glacier. Not contained yet and one of the park lodges was evacuated and closed for for the season. GTTSR is closed from the west side. We realized it was not going to be a pleasant trip and sadly decided to cancel. All refundable except the flight out to Spokane. Return flight is on SW so I can get a refund there. I did book my tickets on CIP so nothing to lose to see if trip cancellation insurance covers (severe weather which prevents a reasonable and prudent person from beginning a Covered Trip). Otherwise I'll be fine with the $200 loss, I'll take it out of one of the bank bonuses from this year. With Hawaii on tap for 2019, we'll probably plan for 2020 early to mid July.

Oh, that stinks about Glacier I was hoping after last year's fires that Glacier would be spared this year. Dh said yesterday that we should just go very early in the season and not even wait for GTTSR to be open!

 

[gottalovepluto]

Has anyone had success with the Citibank $400 bonus? Just successfully opened and plan to move $15k from our Amex savings over to the account. Trying to offset the $550 platinum AF that’s due soon.

They wait until the last min to post. Sometimes it doesn't post & people need to contact Citi and push them a bit. They end up with the bonus, but it can require a little more effort once in a while. Citi gonna Citi as they say.

 

[3 DD love princesses]

A few weeks ago, I shared that my MIL was in the hospital. She passed away last night. She had been in declining health for some time, and has had numerous medical scares over the last few years, but she was the most uplifting and optimistic person despite all that. My wife spent over a week with her, and left her mother on the mend, in high spirits, and looking forward to us visiting again over the holidays. She began not feeling well again a few days ago, but it was touch and go. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it), the end was very sudden. Sadly, we weren’t able to say our final goodbyes in person. My wife is on a flight home to Hawaii now, paid for entirely with points, so one less thing to worry about. My daughter and I will be flying to Hawaii in a few days once funeral arrangements are finalized. I wish I had picked up this hobby years ago, which would’ve meant a lot more trips to Hawaii for my wife to see her mom and my daughter to get to know the amazing woman who was her grandma. But my MIL wouldn’t want us to live with regrets, and she was always happy with what she had. Small solace that we don’t have to worry about the cost of flying to and from Hawaii now. Thank you all for your well wishes.

Wow. 8/18 was a terrible day.

So sorry to hear this. Sending lots of hugs to your wife and your family. Glad she got to go out recently and that this hobby has made it easier to go out more often. Safe travels. Hopefully southwest will start soon to help you save more.

 

[SBWB48]

I read this...is it the package holders who haven't yet redeemed or attached anything the problem? or just the cat 6&8 holders (I bought an 8 a few months back) who 'lost' points?

Those that are deemed the "losers" of the new N+F/TP mappings are Cat 6/8/Tier 1-3 holders that did not attach it to a reservation before the new conversion mappings. If you attached one of those certs, it's likely you would have been able to still capture or preserve its "value". For example, someone who held an old Cat 8 and attached it to a Cat 8 property PRIOR to 8/18 for a stay POST-8/18 and isn't canceling the reservation is able to still have the reservation honored. Someone else with a Cat 8 cert who elected to not attach it can no longer book the new Cat 8 equivalent since most old Cat 8s now map to the new Cat 6. What is really ticking this group of people off (myself included) is, BOTH old Cat 7 and Cat 8 certs now map to the new Cat 5s. So effectively, those who paid the extra 30K to upgrade their certs from whatever they had to a Cat 8 wasted 30K since I could have gotten an old Cat 7 cert and still manage to get the same result as someone who paid extra to upgrade to a Cat 8. This same scenario has happened to those with a Cat 6; they paid more, but are getting an end product equivalent to those who purchased an old Cat 1-5 with fewer points.

A few weeks ago, I shared that my MIL was in the hospital. She passed away last night. She had been in declining health for some time, and has had numerous medical scares over the last few years, but she was the most uplifting and optimistic person despite all that. My wife spent over a week with her, and left her mother on the mend, in high spirits, and looking forward to us visiting again over the holidays. She began not feeling well again a few days ago, but it was touch and go. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it), the end was very sudden. Sadly, we weren’t able to say our final goodbyes in person. My wife is on a flight home to Hawaii now, paid for entirely with points, so one less thing to worry about. My daughter and I will be flying to Hawaii in a few days once funeral arrangements are finalized. I wish I had picked up this hobby years ago, which would’ve meant a lot more trips to Hawaii for my wife to see her mom and my daughter to get to know the amazing woman who was her grandma. But my MIL wouldn’t want us to live with regrets, and she was always happy with what she had. Small solace that we don’t have to worry about the cost of flying to and from Hawaii now. Thank you all for your well wishes.

Wow. 8/18 was a terrible day.

I'm very sorry for your loss. It's never easy to deal with, but I'm glad you've find a silver lining to all this. Thoughts and prayers for you and your family.

I'm so sorry for those who got screwed over by Marriott.

I'll remember this as I'm taking Marriott for all the signup bonuses I can get before 8/26, stringing together a week of free stays somewhere with their FN certificates, then dumping them as I move our business and wallet back to Hilton next year.

THIS. I may consider just pushing CP plans and grabbing the Personal Card to also string together a week of free nights. I may likely be able to keep my CP plans in place either way, but tried to preserve a slot for a unknown.

 

[Calfan]

I think I have decided to book our return flights from Africa for next summer on Emirates using UR with the goal of upgrading to business via MR. I'm having the same issue others have experienced with the Chase travel portal saying I can't book more than 9 months out with my CSR, but pulling up flights farther out with my CF or CFU. (I'm looking at flights in July 2019). What is the best number to call for Chase travel to have them book for me so I can get 1.5 cents per point? Thanks!

 

[Judique]

Ack!

Hopefully it's a continuation of the integration/crossover. I know I've lost 11,000 spg points (spg is now just showing my Marriott points ). I've read it may take 48-72 hours after Aug 18th for things to correct so fingers crossed that's the case for you!

I'm missing 71000+spg (times 3) so over 200K in Marriott value. I sent them an email as I wanted to start an inquiry trail just in case. My regular Marriott points are in my account.

 

[afan]

@afan-- thanks! I have no need to go into SF- we'll sleep, get up, get to the BART, take it to his brother's. Actually, out of the city is preferable since hopefully it will be quieter and less chaotic (country mouse here!).

This will work then, you can take the shuttle to the airport to catch bart. I'm contemplating what to do in a couple weeks, take bart to a station near my hotel and then catch uber or uber straight from the airport. Going to have to see how much it is when I land. Hotel is 1.5 miles from bart, I'm not wasting time walking that far with a suitcase, though I think it would at least be downhill

I meant to post this comment last night, but ... things came up.

Apparently the Tesla story made its way into JPMorgan Chase’s internal briefs: https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/comments/98dztw/comment/e4fvrxi?st=JL1BS40Y&sh=7b945e05

This is why we can't have nice things and some other not DIS approved words. And it doesn't even affect me because I don't have a CIP.

Oh, that stinks about Glacier I was hoping after last year's fires that Glacier would be spared this year. Dh said yesterday that we should just go very early in the season and not even wait for GTTSR to be open!

Def go early. I keep seeing stuff on Twitter and FB about a smoke storm coming. I can't see blue sky, you'd think it's clouds but it's not. It's keeping the temp down today at least. I know it's bad though because when I look across the backyard to the trees behind the neighbors house you can see the smoke hanging. We've had a burn ban for over a month so I know no one is actually burning. Hopefully @Albort has been able to see some stuff before the smoke came back and maybe it's not as bad at the mountain.

 

[vanjust14]

A few weeks ago, I shared that my MIL was in the hospital. She passed away last night. She had been in declining health for some time, and has had numerous medical scares over the last few years, but she was the most uplifting and optimistic person despite all that. My wife spent over a week with her, and left her mother on the mend, in high spirits, and looking forward to us visiting again over the holidays. She began not feeling well again a few days ago, but it was touch and go. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it), the end was very sudden. Sadly, we weren’t able to say our final goodbyes in person. My wife is on a flight home to Hawaii now, paid for entirely with points, so one less thing to worry about. My daughter and I will be flying to Hawaii in a few days once funeral arrangements are finalized. I wish I had picked up this hobby years ago, which would’ve meant a lot more trips to Hawaii for my wife to see her mom and my daughter to get to know the amazing woman who was her grandma. But my MIL wouldn’t want us to live with regrets, and she was always happy with what she had. Small solace that we don’t have to worry about the cost of flying to and from Hawaii now. Thank you all for your well wishes.

Wow. 8/18 was a terrible day.

I'm so sorry for your loss. I wish you and your wife will find some peace at this difficult time.

 

[Alexle2007]

I'm missing 71000+spg (times 3) so over 200K in Marriott value. I sent them an email as I wanted to start an inquiry trail just in case. My regular Marriott points are in my account.

Did you have a new Marriott # associated with your SPG account? I now have 2 Marriott accounts that need to be merged together. Having worked in IT for many years, it seems like the data conversion went very wrong.

 

[tink1970]

I'm missing 71000+spg (times 3) so over 200K in Marriott value. I sent them an email as I wanted to start an inquiry trail just in case. My regular Marriott points are in my account.

I was fortunate and transferred as much as possible prior to the merge. I think if I'd lost that many I'd be slightly anxious. Hoping it all transfers smoothly soon!

This is why we can't have nice things and some other not DIS approved words. And it doesn't even affect me because I don't have a CIP.

LOL...I just said that to DH today...and we don't have a CIP either.

 

[havaneselover]

@Lain I’m so sorry for your family’s loss.

 

[DisneyMandC]

Finally finished DH's CIC MSR this weekend. I'm about to message Amex, I think I'm about $40 away from the Hilton MSR. About $1000 into the Citi AA biz MSR. I'll probably apply for the SPG biz on Friday to keep that as far from my Citi AA MSR as possible.

Finally home from Tulsa, which completes my summer travels. Back to work tomorrow where I'll have to work multiple consecutive five-day work weeks!! Wahhhh!!!

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

I think I have decided to book our return flights from Africa for next summer on Emirates using UR with the goal of upgrading to business via MR. I'm having the same issue others have experienced with the Chase travel portal saying I can't book more than 9 months out with my CSR, but pulling up flights farther out with my CF or CFU. (I'm looking at flights in July 2019). What is the best number to call for Chase travel to have them book for me so I can get 1.5 cents per point? Thanks!

Please share how it goes for you. I am looking at flights to and from Africa (South Africa) for next July too.

 

[havaneselover]

So tomorrow we board the Disney Wonder. We’re in Vancouver today (Delta suites is fantastic). This trip would never have been possible without the amazing people on this thread, the swagbucks thread, and the Disney gift card thread. Was able to pay for two rooms for two nights in Vancouver with Marriott points, flights with ur points, Vancouver activities with ur points, saved about $1500 paying with Disney gift cards, and used 12 months of swagbucks earnings ($1500 or so) to offset excursion costs. You guys are the best—so helpful and kind!

 

[snugglebug]

Trying to make lemonade, I checked with my daughter who is my main travel partner. Gave her a choice of 1) Acadia NP in Maine, 2) NY City museums/Broadway, 3) Orlando - either Universal or Disney. She picked Acadia NP. I had looked for hotel openings before giving her choices. I never go anywhere spontaneous so planning in less than a week is terrifying for uber planner like me!

That will make one more NP off our bucket lists and 2 more states we haven't been to - Maine and NH (making a side trip to Mt Washington in the White Mountains). Off to complete all the reservations.

I lived across the water from Acadia NP on Schoodic Peninsula (Navy base that is now closed), my oldest son was born up there. It's a beautiful place in the summer, not too bad in the winter since it's on the coast except that everything shuts down. I'd love to take my littles up there some day.

 

[Judique]

Did you have a new Marriott # associated with your SPG account? I now have 2 Marriott accounts that need to be merged together. Having worked in IT for many years, it seems like the data conversion went very wrong.

Just the same Marriott number I've had since about 2001.

I'm not particularly worried. I guess if I were trying to book a room, I might be a bit perturbed, but I do have the 2 Marriott Chase card bonuses sitting in my Marriott account, so I can function if necessary.

However, I had a points room booked for January, so that 10K room is also missing in action right now, so all told 81K plus SPG points.

And, I also have an update email from Starwood listing the amount of my points - 71250 - as well as the emails where I made my points reservation so I have some sort of 'proof' if necessary.

 

[Judique]

Looks like the Marriott website has gone wonky. You can search for a room but you can't select it, or sign in. There's a pop up saying they are 'on it'.

Also, the new point prices for rooms are showing now. I thought those weren't in effect until 2019?

Lots of IT problems for Marriott....hope they get it together soon. After all, it's been 2 years.....

 

[miztressuz]

I think the Diamond status you get from the Aspire definitely helps. I'm still sore over how stingy Marriott was with offering only Gold Elite status on the [$450!] SPG Lux.

Still on this one. New Gold is just a hair above old Silver. Have no idea how they think that means something on a luxury card, other than "Gold" sounds good. (and they hope only Wyndham Gold folks apply where this is a luxury in comparison)

So tomorrow we board the Disney Wonder. We’re in Vancouver today (Delta suites is fantastic). This trip would never have been possible without the amazing people on this thread, the swagbucks thread, and the Disney gift card thread. Was able to pay for two rooms for two nights in Vancouver with Marriott points, flights with ur points, Vancouver activities with ur points, saved about $1500 paying with Disney gift cards, and used 12 months of swagbucks earnings ($1500 or so) to offset excursion costs. You guys are the best—so helpful and kind!

Awesome! So glad you are enjoying the start of vacation. I'm waiting eagerly to book our pre cruise stay at the Delta now.