I love credit cards so much!

[liloca]

I booked my dh & I at a Hyatt Regency in downtown Denver for a couple nights CLUB level It wasn't that much more on the UR site. We are not used to 1) staying at a hotel without kids, and 2) we have never stayed club level anywhere. I'm not expecting much but it wasn't a huge difference in points so why not?! He has a work conference downtown so I can't keep him up too late lol, but I'm excited to have some kid-free time with just him!

A lot of y'all on this thread are young 'whipper snappers' and you don't have kids (we call them 'ankle-biters') yet. Just wait, one day you will understand Kids are the best thing ever but you cannot help but be thrilled when you can ditch them for a night

So true! I have a toddler and an almost 5year old and me and my DH can never have a conversation! So we really enjoy the rare date nights we get a few times a year!

 

[liloca]

Lol lately I have been questioning if kids are the best choice. I want them but then I went to Steakhouse 55 and Blue Bayou and spent $220 and $185 for just SO and I. How on earth could we afford those meals if we had more people??? I’ll get my final food costs when we check out Friday but I think we are approaching over $1k spent on food this trip. Are kids really worth giving up nice Disneyland meals? Lol maybe our income will also increase so I won’t have to make any sacrifices. Lol

Lol with Kids you will have to make sacrifices no matter how much money you make

 

[amalone1013]

Yep, our cats are our kids! Specialty food... fancy toys... and they play with the box. That's cats.

So they're exactly like kids

The Denver Airport security lines were my main reason for getting TSA Pre-Check! Our corporate office is in Denver, and we go every February for our Sales Kick Off. My boss didn't have it last year, and we timed how much longer it took for him to get through security (vs. me w/Pre-Check) - it was about 40 minutes! Guess who didn't delay getting theirs done as soon as we got back to Tampa?!

Ha! I've been bad, since Denver is my home airport.

 

[GZanta77]

We have friends that decided kids weren't for them - they love spending time with their nieces and nephews, but just don't want the hassle and lifestyle impact of having their own kids. I get it, I feel the same way about pets - I like other people's animals, but I'm not willing to invest the effort into caring for one properly myself. Nothing wrong with choosing not to have kids (or pets ).

I am the same - i love dogs but they seem to be a lot of work and as we travel frequently, it just doesn't seem right to take on that commitment. My DD will gives me the big brown sad eyes every year or so, and we have to have 'The Talk' - pets would mean less cruises/disney trips/ foreign trips/ weekends away etc etc. She is reluctantly accepting of our decision, but I am sure there is some deep-seated resentment in their somewhere. We did come close to relenting once, but then our DD looked after a friends hamster for a couple weeks. The first few days were great, but then she kinda lost interest as it seemed as though the hamster was interfering with iPad time.

At times, it does feel like we are the only family in town without a dog.

 

[hsmamato2]

The Marriott Wailea went up to 50K/nt (40K off peak/60K peak in 2019) from the pre-8/18 Cat 8 40K/nt. If you attached your (pre 8/18) Cat 8 travel package to your booking by 8/18 then you are golden. But if you need to make changes to your plans, your 7 nt certificate is only good at a new Cat 5 hotel (and the Marriott Wailea is a Cat 6 now).

If it is a straight up 7 nt points booking, it would cost 300,000 Marriott points (6 x 50K, plus one free night). Now a travel package for the new Cat 6s is 510,000 points (for 110K air miles).

whoa....thank you! I'm glad I did it back in spring then.... (once in a while I do things in the right order)

 

[hsmamato2]

So I upgraded my SPG to lux. My anniversary date is March 31st so between the credit and 100k points it seemed to make sense.
Finished MSR on my SPG BIZ, got almost 3k done on BGP, will start cracking on DHs SPG biz and now need to get it done on the SPG. It’s a lot but with the holidays approaching and plans for home improvements i think it will happen. This will prob push my CIP back a little though!!

whats BGP? (curious since I'm on the same path here and looking to hit MSR)

 

[hsmamato2]

They added the free 35K night effective August 1,2018. Since your anniversary is November, you would be due the free night in November. (I've had the card 17 years and won't get my first free night until next March.)

ok...so if your anniversary night falls between Jan-July you'd have to wait a year for it,is that right?

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

whats BGP? (curious since I'm on the same path here and looking to hit MSR)

Perhaps they mean BGR - the AMEX Business Gold Rewards card?

 

[hsmamato2]

It's kind of a longstanding joke.

• Hilton points have always seemingly been worth less than SPG, Hyatt, Marriott and IHG (and I probably valued them in that order - before SPG/Marriott became one).
• On the other hand Hilton hands out points like crazy...125k bonus...14x points for every dollar spent...You get points AND points on your stays...etc.
• Now, because they hand out points like crazy, they then do devaluations (but so do Marriott and IHG and others...)
• The real joke though is for example when CSR came out and people would ask - should I get the 100k CSR offer or the 100k Hilton card offer? Both are 100,000 points.
• That is why Hilton does it - they give away more points than anybody so people think they're getting more.
• I've used hundreds of thousands of Hilton points personally so I certainly have no issue with them
• That said - with 4 cards ALL with huge bonuses...it seems they are BEGGING for another devaluation
• AND the shady thing about Hilton is they don't have a firm award chart (at least that I know of) so they just charge however many points they want to in any situation (And that's the real issue I have with them)

EDIT: I'll add one thing...if somebody told me I could have 100k Marriott or 100k Hilton points...I'd take the 100k Marriott in a second! But I respect differing opinions.

and to think that I LOVE IHG b/c of all our free nights in the past couple of years... but I'm getting into Hilton now too....(oh SPG I'll miss you)

 

[tink1970]

I am the same - i love dogs but they seem to be a lot of work and as we travel frequently, it just doesn't seem right to take on that commitment.

I totally understand not wanting dogs (they are toddlers who never grow up!) but my experience is that it's possible to travel with them, just an added consideration. I'm pretty sure our globe trotting @calypso726 has a dog or two. Again, don't want pets...I understand, and do not judge. Can't travel with pets, not my experience-in the past year I've been to Europe four times for more than a week at a time and I have four plus/minus a foster dog.

I am fortunate and have a great kennel for 2 of my dogs and a great dogsitter for the other 2, so yes, it's definitely an added expense on the vacation budget.

whats BGP?

Likely, Amex Biz Gold Preferred...briefly there was a time when you could refer yourself from Amex Biz Plat, get 20,000 MR/first year AF waived/$5,000 MSR. I'm sort of fuzzy with the details since the self refer euphoria (and 40,000 MR from Biz Gold/Green) left me all happy

ETA: Biz Gold Rewards...although the card just says Biz Gold...stand corrected by @SouthFayetteFan

 

[Judique]

ok...so if your anniversary night falls between Jan-July you'd have to wait a year for it,is that right?

You would have to wait up to a year. The people whose anniversary occurred in July are the ones who will wait the longest. The luckiest are the ones with an august anniversary.

 

[amalone1013]

I am the same - i love dogs but they seem to be a lot of work and as we travel frequently, it just doesn't seem right to take on that commitment.

Insert goats here and this is me

I love dogs too. But I have always said I wanted goats for years and years - they are a lot like dogs, really, smart, personality, etc, I just wouldn't have them in my house - potty training they do not do! But anymore it's like, I want to do some traveling and they are a lot of time and work... and finding a goat sitter may be a bit more difficult than a dog or cat sitter. Maybe some day....

But I do plan to get a dog sooner than goats

 

[miztressuz]

Nostalgia



The days before minimum spend requirements. I spent even less to get my 80k IHG points.

Ok, ok, I tricked ya Chase. I applied for the Plus for the lower AF for the same amount of bonus points, then PC'd to the Premier that I wanted at 1 year. When my anniversary points posted the next month I got the 6000 for the Premier. Worked for me, but gave me a really odd AF schedule. (Anniversary points post in Jan, I get the AF in Aug.) Guess maybe they were still salty about that.

 

[tink1970]

I like other people's animals, but I'm not willing to invest the effort into caring for one properly myself. Nothing wrong with choosing not to have kids (or pets )

Completely agree!

Insert goats here and this is me

I love dogs too. But I have always said I wanted goats for years and years - they are a lot like dogs, really, smart, personality, etc, I just wouldn't have them in my house - potty training they do not do! But anymore it's like, I want to do some traveling and they are a lot of time and work... and finding a goat sitter may be a bit more difficult than a dog or cat sitter. Maybe some day....

But I do plan to get a dog sooner than goats

LOL! We have weird zoning laws in our city and one day I was driving home from (doggie) day care and did a double take...yep a goat standing on someone's front porch. It was surreal

I'd love to have a pig-they are smart, have great personalities and contrary to popular belief don't enjoy being dirty but enjoy being cool (me too!). DH absolutely says no and honestly having four dogs is pushing it with him. I'd like to have a herd of pigs and more dogs but best to stay married!

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Likely, Amex Biz Gold Preferred...briefly there was a time when you could refer yourself from Amex Biz Plat, get 20,000 MR/first year AF waived/$5,000 MSR. I'm sort of fuzzy with the details since the self refer euphoria (and 40,000 MR from Biz Gold/Green) left me all happy

Would that be the Business Gold PRewards card then? It's BGR, Business Gold Rewards, no preferred

 

[kidsfirsttrip]

whats BGP? (curious since I'm on the same path here and looking to hit MSR)

Perhaps they mean BGR - the AMEX Business Gold Rewards card?

Yes business gold reward. Sorry typo. I’ll get 50k MR with 5K spend. I did the self referral for the biz green which only needed one purchase and I got another 20k MR

 

[tink1970]

Would that be the Business Gold PRewards card then? It's BGR, Business Gold Rewards, no preferred

Yep, pulled it out of the sock drawer. See, so euphoric from the MRs I was amnestic and inaccurate

 

[striker1064]

and to think that I LOVE IHG b/c of all our free nights in the past couple of years... but I'm getting into Hilton now too....(oh SPG I'll miss you)

The unrestricted IHG free night

It was fun while it lasted. Using ours this year in December at the Kimpton Ink48 NYC. We'll get the unrestricted certs one more time next year. And then alas...

 

[disneymagicgirl]

I am a bunch of pages behind, but just wanted to say I am the proud new owner of a shiny new SW Biz card!!!! I hadn't checked the status line since yesterday afternoon but logged into my CIP to transfer points to SW to book flights this morning and it was listed! YAY! Over half way to CP! So, how long til I can app for the personal?
And on a side note, I had added myself to DH's oldest amex about 2 weeks ago so apparently it isn't showing as a "new" account...at least yet...b/c that would have made me 1/30 and ineligible for the new biz card.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Wait a sec . . . so my kids are AU's on BOTH mine and DH's SPG business cards. We used their Lowe's offers on both. I was assuming I'd see claw backs. Wouldn't Amex have their SSN's? It was so long ago, I don't recall if I had to input their SSN's or not when I ordered their "employee" cards.

Right now it’s only the Staples deal. We’re bracing to see how far Amex takes this, if they extend it to Lowe’s it appears you’ll be hit with $200. (I think Amex closes au accounts after 6 months or something without an ssn but I’m not certain about that, if that’s the case and it’s been a long time their ssn is probably on there.)