I love credit cards so much!

[wendow]

We’ve never done a resort only trip but I think it would be a nice relaxing trip if we did. I don’t think we could go and not go to the parks though lol

That would have been us as married peeps before kids

 

[Haley R]

In the past I have regretted spending money on better rooms at Disney. We just weren't there enough to enjoy it. It was money and not points so that could possibly make a difference since points aren't as tangible as green cash.

This past week in Vegas we were given an AMAZING suite due to the front desk originally sending us up to a room that was already occupied. We spent MANY hours there (me mainly in the jacuzzi and DH sitting by the full length window, people watching) but only because we were in a location that we had been to several times before, had a very flexible schedule (the ONLY thing set in concrete was getting our Global Entry), and we were more than happy to just relax. This reservation was made on points and we still made it a priority to find time to enjoy the room. If we had a packed itinerary this room would have been totally wasted on us.

Somewhere in the middle of these two examples is your situation and only you can decide how you want it to go....If it were me I would save the extra money or points for the next trip. If the travel bug has bit you, you aren't going to let a family slow you down. You WILL be traveling again!

Lol all good points. I’m pretty jealous of your jacuzzi room though. I’m pretty sure while we do Tokyo Disney we won’t be in the room at all. We have 4 days for Tokyo Disney and 1 day as a free day mainly for ikspiari shopping. As I’m typing this I’m seriously on the verge of canceling and booking a normal king room. We get the ocean view no matter what.

Also, include pretty sure we will be back to Japan lol. The new expansion coming to the park looks amazing

 

[Mopedmom1]

I think I may cancel our Yachtsman Steakhouse reservation for our trip to partially offset the room upgrade cost. I had that penciled in as a $187 meal w/ tip. I love a good steak but it would probably sit well with my wallet if I replaced that with a $40 QS meal...

I like how you have the meal budgeted to an exact $187. Not $185 or $190, but $187. That's a budget conscious money man!

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

True, but they could drop in value as well. Even worse to have 600k points worth $3k. I’m not saying cash them all out but for a $600 upgrade, free is free to me. You could also use $600 of discounted Disney GCs to pay and reimburse yourself for what you paid for them, effectively increasing your redemption above .01 pp

Just finished booking our Alaska cruise excursions. Booked 2 thru UR portal, rates were close to cash booking though non refundable, which freaked me out a bit. The third port had limited options available thru UR portal, so I chose a vendor recommended by multiple people on the DCL thread, and charged it on CSR. I’ll get 3x points and reimburse myself for the $400 by cashing out URs. I’m just excited to do all our excursions for free!

I'll still buy discounted Disney GCs regardless of my UR decision - so I've already factored in that the $634.32 upgrade cost is really only $588.20. My thing is that I don't need to redeem to offset this (and I realize that's specific to my situation and may differ from how others look at it)...I just needed to make a decision on whether I wanted to spend $588.20 or not. I think we all just have to figure out how we choose to mentally offset points and savings vs. travel costs.

I think it's hard for me put my thoughts into words, but basically: If I want to cash out, I can...if I don't want to, I won't...but cashing out wasn't going to affect my decision on this upgrade. That was a decision on whether it was worth $588.20 to me (and I decided this morning that it was).

With regards to Ultimate Rewards Points dropping in value...Chase Ultimate Rewards points being worth $0.01 in cash is the primary tenet of their credit card rewards strategy and marketing. It's what makes the Freedom a 1% back everyday card and what makes CFU a 1.5% cash back card (not to mention CIC and CIU on the biz side). While fear of devaluation is a real thing, that typically is related to hotel and flight points and not cash value of major issuers points currency. Chase URs have been been worth $0.01 each in cash since they were introduced roughly a decade ago (I don't have actual stats on this - just sourcing my memory on card intro dates).

I think devaluations in future earning could occur on Chase UR cards, I think devaluations of the 1.25 and 1.50 redemption options could occur, I think transfer partners could be eliminated (and they could abandon the 1:1 transfer concept however that's also been a mainstay of the program).

All that said...I personally believe that a devaluation of URs to be worth less than $0.01 each in cash will never occur. I have no insider knowledge on that and I may be proven wrong someday but it is a risk I am happy to take for now. I would much rather have the opportunity in the future to use those points for $9,000 than have $6,000 in the bank today. Of course if this was a trip that was impairing our current financial situation I would probably be redeeming those URs (but it should also be said that if this trip were enough to impair my financial situation - we would be cancelling it, lol!)

ETA: I'm not suggesting what I say above is the "RIGHT" way to think about things...I don't want it to come off that way. It's just the way I choose to look at it.

 

[Haley R]

That would have been us as married peeps before kids

Plus I’m sure the more we go to Disney the more we could hold off on the parks. I couldn’t believe our last trip I stayed by the pool and swam by myself for 3 hours. I never do anything by myself but Dh wanted to nap and I wanted to swim so that’s what we did lol

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

I like how you have the meal budgeted to an exact $187. Not $185 or $190, but $187. That's a budget conscious money man!

LOL - I went and reviewed the menu and figured out that our likely cost was $150 (rounded) . 18% tip = $27 // 6.5% tax = $9.75; so all in it was $187 and that's what I put on the budget, hahaha! I am nothing if not precise... haha! Crazy enough...I do this with every sit down meal to figure out approximately how much we need in gift cards to end up with $0 out of pocket while we are in Orlando.

With QS I am a little less scientific and just assume $40 each as that was our average from last year with a small bump for price increases.

I do add some cushion to the calculation but I do that with Snacks and Souven'ears because it's easier to me.

 

[mmmears]

I was out all day and it took me a long time to catch up. DH got a "Beagle 2.0" today from his AMEX/Lux card. Nice little "gift."

I did it - made the change this morning...we are staying in a Theme Park View Contemporary Resort room for our last 3 nights in Jan/Feb.

I woke up this morning with this feeling of “it’s $600...you have like $30,000 in travel points...you could convert those into cash equivalents of $15,000+ if you needed to...just do it cheap-o...” And so I did it! And I plan to tell the girls on Christmas morning as a gift!!

Yay! I hope you have a fantastic time! I've had castle views from both the GF and the Poly, but haven't stayed at the CR yet.

What I should really do with me URs...Hawaii.

I just don’t really have the right situation to do it in 2019 - we already have too many trips on the schedule. That would have to be a summer 2020 trip.

Hawaii is always a good choice.

Ok, I'm not even trying to catch up at this point. If anyone asked me anything and I missed it, please ask again or tag me.

Popping in to report that the pre-payment of $250 to the Conrad Maldives Rangali Island resort did credit. The charge posted December 5th and credited December 7th.

My value from applying for yet another high AF card. I applied last January and for my $4,000 MSR and $450 AF here is what I got and what I am looking forward to.

Meeting the MSR got me 100,000 Hilton points ($500 ~)
Free weekend night was used at the Hilton Times Square - cash rate is $250-$350
$250 annual Airline credit - purchased $250 in AA GCs
$250 resort credit - successfully pre paid part of the $500 Maldives sea plane transfers for next year

Value in first year $1300

Next year:

Free weekend night for OWB in Maldives $1200 ~
$250 annual Airline credit - will purchase $250 in AA GCs
$250 resort credit - will charge balance of the $500 Maldives sea plane transfers
Diamond status while in the Maldives will allow us to have:

• One bottle of Sparkling wine upon arrival
• Chocolate & Fruit amenities upon arrival
• Daily Happy Hour at Vilu restaurant
• Free breakfast
• Afternoon tea
• Complimentary 15 minute additional Spa treatment

Soup is $26 and a salad is $35! With the exception of splurging for the underwater restaurant we will be taking advantage of the free options with the Diamond status that comes with the Aspire card. Therefore, I won't even speculate on the exact value I will get from free food options but it will certainly add up.

Value for 2019 - over $2,000

I am really loving this card and so glad we got it!

Just to confirm, this is the Aspire card? Sounds like you're making very good use of it. It's on my list to consider in the new year.

Congrats! I need to look into these kinds of WDW resort bucket-list items . . . with my family, it's AKL or it just doesn't seem like Disney. We've stayed at the Poly a few times for runDisney races because of the monorail and bed choices, but otherwise I just figure if we are going to Disney, we are staying at AKL. I'm curious to see if we still feel that way after our upcoming Christmas trip -- it's been seven years since we've been.

We love AKL. Such a special place!

Dh has a conference in March at an Orlando hotel. We are extending 3-4 nights past his conference for just us (woot, kid free!!!)! If anyone has dvc points they want to rent, send me a pm. I'm looking at that option since we cannot use our UR's for a room My dates for needing a Disney room are March 29- Apr 1 or March 29- Apr 2. Thank you!

That's wonderful! What a nice chance to get away for a bit!

I've got a little over 2k United miles that are expiring Dec. 31st and no way to use them or earn more before the deadline. Is cashing out for giftcards my best bet?

United shopping portal should give you a few miles and extend your deadline I believe.

 

[Lain]

I've got a little over 2k United miles that are expiring Dec. 31st and no way to use them or earn more before the deadline. Is cashing out for giftcards my best bet?

I think there are some easy ways to extend them -- maybe buying something through the United shopping portal? I know I did that for some Southwest points a while ago.

MileagePlus Shopping portal will extend your points, but it can take one or two weeks for the (new) points to post if your shopping trip was successfully tracked at all.

As much as I like the MileagePlus Shopping portal, I think an easier way is to download the MileagePlus X (“MPX”) app (available on iOS and Android), sign in with your UA account, and buy an electronic gift card. You can buy eGCs to hundreds of merchants, including Starbucks, iTunes, Best Buy, etc., and you can purchase any amount you want down to the penny for many merchants, subject to certain minimums. You earn 0.5-5x UA miles per $ on the eGCs (more on select merchants during promotions), with a 25% bonus in miles if you’re a United Visa cardmember and have the card linked to your account. Miles earned from MPX post immediately.

 

[wendow]

Looked at our options on UR for rooms around Disney. Sad and pathetic. I understand they pulled all the Disney resort bookings. But why Swolphin?? Is Chase just trying to get back at Disney travelers?? Is there any other vacation destination that Chase has decided to pull all the resort bookings from UR, or just Disney? Did they really have *that* many people booking Disney to where it was becoming problematic? I have a lot of family and friends who go to Disney, some multiple times per year, and not a single one, to my knowledge, is using UR's to cover their trip. These are not CC savvy people. They are not even buy GC's at Target for 5% off people.

Options through UR's for staying super close to Disney is pretty much Bonnet Creek. We stayed there last April. I just wasn't that impressed.

 

[Mopedmom1]

LOL - I went and reviewed the menu and figured out that our likely cost was $150 (rounded) . 18% tip = $27 // 6.5% tax = $9.75; so all in it was $187 and that's what I put on the budget, hahaha! I am nothing if not precise... haha! Crazy enough...I do this with every sit down meal to figure out approximately how much we need in gift cards to end up with $0 out of pocket while we are in Orlando.

With QS I am a little less scientific and just assume $40 each as that was our average from last year with a small bump for price increases.

I do add some cushion to the calculation but I do that with Snacks and Souven'ears because it's easier to me.

I guess I gave you too much credit.....Likely? Rounded? Assume? Oh and your numbers add up to $186.75. I keeed, I keeed.
(Too much time on my hands tonight. DH is at a bball game and I'm home alone putting off the vacation laundry as long as I can!)

 

[usakiwi]

Can someone please refresh me on Citi "biz" card apps?

We have a legit business, normally over time both DH and I will apply for the same credit card for the business but each in our own name. So our legit business has two of the following credit cards, one in his name and one in mine: CIP, Ink unlimited, UA Business, SPG business, Marriott business, SW business etc.

However, I just went to apply for the Citi AA Business version for DH and it states that this card is "not available" if the business already has this card, which is crazy to me. Our business DOES already have this card, but in my name. So I am thinking I could just apply for him with a "biz" without using our proper business EIN and just use his SS. If questioned we have a subset of our legit business that we could say we would use the card specifically for, but it doesn't have its own EIN. But is Citi ok for just a "biz?" I don't normally follow the chatter with regards to "biz" applications because we are not normally in that situation where we need to have one. But I don't recall it being discussed frequently which makes me think it is a no go for a "biz."

Or does anyone know if they actually enforce the one credit card per business rule?? (I assume they do or they wouldn't have it!)

Thank you for any help! (I did try to search but couldn't find what I was looking for)

 

[Tikitoi]

If you can’t figure it out I can try to do screen shots.

I definitely appreciate that. On our way to NYC literally as I type. But will let you know when we're back.

 

[speedyfishy]

I think I may cancel our Yachtsman Steakhouse reservation for our trip to partially offset the room upgrade cost. I had that penciled in as a $187 meal w/ tip. I love a good steak but it would probably sit well with my wallet if I replaced that with a $40 QS meal...

So I’m on the FIRE path like you. I’m always looking to save and cut expenses too but we are so different. I would never pay $600 more to move deluxes and give up yatchsman Steakhouse lol. SO and I typically do value resorts to save money and our splurge is the deluxe dining plan. I love how we are so similar but also so different.

 

[trenty]

@speedyfishy and @SouthFayetteFan (and any others on the FIRE path) - at what age are you planning to retire?

 

[speedyfishy]

@speedyfishy and @SouthFayetteFan (and any others on the FIRE path) - at what age are you planning to retire?

We just started and based on our current savings it’s looking like it will take 20-25 years so we would be 44-49. I’m hoping tho to save more and lower that number. The number is also assuming a withdrawal rate tripple our current expenses lol. I don’t know what healthcare costs will look like then and we will hopefully have children, The savings rate isn’t including any of my income yet and I haven’t looked at potential raises. We will have kids which could also change things but I’m planning on waiting 6ish years so I hope we have a decent savings by then.

 

[trenty]

We just started and based on our current savings it’s looking like it will take 20-25 years so we would be 44-49. I’m hoping tho to save more and lower that number. The number is also assuming a withdrawal rate tripple our current expenses lol. I don’t know what healthcare costs will look like then and we will hopefully have children, The savings rate isn’t including any of my income yet and I haven’t looked at potential raises. We will have kids which could also change things but I’m planning on waiting 6ish years so I hope we have a decent savings by then.

Nice. I hope to retire at 55. I never knew about FIRE until reading about it here. Even if I knew about and followed FIRE strictly, I still probably wouldn't retire before 55.

 

[chattadisser]

Options through UR's for staying super close to Disney is pretty much Bonnet Creek. We stayed there last April. I just wasn't that impressed.

Did you look at the Waldorf Bonnet Creek? My DH and I stayed there on a kid free/park free couple of nights and it was wonderful! Highly recommend it. It did help that we got a free upgrade to a Disney fireworks facing suite but the staff and the rooms were great.

 

[speedyfishy]

Nice. I hope to retire at 55. I never knew about FIRE until reading about it here. Even if I knew about and followed FIRE strictly, I still probably wouldn't retire before 55.

That is still a FIREing early. We are so young so a lot can change. I’m trying not to get too caught up on how long it will take and who knows we may change careers and find something we don’t want to give up. The savings now can’t hurt. I feel like I’m not giving up a lot honestly. Yeah SO was looking at pictures 6 years ago and he was like omg you still wear this shirt but I try not to be materialistic and buy a lot of stuff. Except I can’t seem to stop buying Disney shirts lol.

 

[trenty]

That is still a FIREing early. We are so young so a lot can change. I’m trying not to get too caught up on how long it will take and who knows we may change careers and find something we don’t want to give up. The savings now can’t hurt. I feel like I’m not giving up a lot honestly. Yeah SO was looking at pictures 6 years ago and he was like omg you still wear this shirt but I try not to be materialistic and buy a lot of stuff. Except I can’t seem to stop buying Disney shirts lol.

Yes. I feel that I am retiring early if I do at 55. But I did not actively practice FIRE strictly. We save for retirement and try to live within our means.

 

[calypso726]

We’ve never done a resort only trip but I think it would be a nice relaxing trip if we did. I don’t think we could go and not go to the parks though lol

We've done quite a few of those resort only trips. But we are in WDW a lot. Now, I don't think we would ever go to DLR, TDL, TDS and not go to the parks.

Lol all good points. I’m pretty jealous of your jacuzzi room though. I’m pretty sure while we do Tokyo Disney we won’t be in the room at all. We have 4 days for Tokyo Disney and 1 day as a free day mainly for ikspiari shopping. As I’m typing this I’m seriously on the verge of canceling and booking a normal king room. We get the ocean view no matter what.

Also, include pretty sure we will be back to Japan lol. The new expansion coming to the park looks amazing

You are probably right. We did a split stay between the Tokyo Disneyland Hotel and Tokyo Disney Sea MiraCosta. The first 2 nights at TDLH we only went to the room to sleep. When we stayed at TDSMC we did go to back the room specifically to watch Fantasmic from the room. If we had not had Harbor View rooms, we would have never gone back to the room except to sleep.

We were looking at the Beauty and the Beast ride which looks super cool. We decided we would definitely be going back after the expansion. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on Tokyo Hilton Bay since that is our rough plan for accommodations to go back in 2021.

I'll still buy discounted Disney GCs regardless of my UR decision - so I've already factored in that the $634.32 upgrade cost is really only $588.20. My thing is that I don't need to redeem to offset this (and I realize that's specific to my situation and may differ from how others look at it)...I just needed to make a decision on whether I wanted to spend $588.20 or not. I think we all just have to figure out how we choose to mentally offset points and savings vs. travel costs.

I think it's hard for me put my thoughts into words, but basically: If I want to cash out, I can...if I don't want to, I won't...but cashing out wasn't going to affect my decision on this upgrade. That was a decision on whether it was worth $588.20 to me (and I decided this morning that it was).

With regards to Ultimate Rewards Points dropping in value...Chase Ultimate Rewards points being worth $0.01 in cash is the primary tenet of their credit card rewards strategy and marketing. It's what makes the Freedom a 1% back everyday card and what makes CFU a 1.5% cash back card (not to mention CIC and CIU on the biz side). While fear of devaluation is a real thing, that typically is related to hotel and flight points and not cash value of major issuers points currency. Chase URs have been been worth $0.01 each in cash since they were introduced roughly a decade ago (I don't have actual stats on this - just sourcing my memory on card intro dates).

I think devaluations in future earning could occur on Chase UR cards, I think devaluations of the 1.25 and 1.50 redemption options could occur, I think transfer partners could be eliminated (and they could abandon the 1:1 transfer concept however that's also been a mainstay of the program).

All that said...I personally believe that a devaluation of URs to be worth less than $0.01 each in cash will never occur. I have no insider knowledge on that and I may be proven wrong someday but it is a risk I am happy to take for now. I would much rather have the opportunity in the future to use those points for $9,000 than have $6,000 in the bank today. Of course if this was a trip that was impairing our current financial situation I would probably be redeeming those URs (but it should also be said that if this trip were enough to impair my financial situation - we would be cancelling it, lol!)

ETA: I'm not suggesting what I say above is the "RIGHT" way to think about things...I don't want it to come off that way. It's just the way I choose to look at it.

Oddly enough, we are pretty much on the same wavelength here. Mostly. We are still going to get Disney GCs either discounted or at 5x. For us, there is no scenario where we aren't using them. DVC dues alone are enough to keep me buying them. We do like CS meals and that won't change so the gift cards are necessary for those too. Plus, I have a mild Disney Dooney addiction. So there's that.

We all know, I will never straight out cash UR points. It's not real money to me. It's a means to have an experience without it costing real money. When I decide to use UR points for a redemption, it comes down to, do I want to spend real money on that or not. There is also, is the experience worth that many UR points or not? Playing around with the travel portal I saw that I could book Ashford Castle for a week in the summer which is great since I don't want to spend $800 - $1700 per night for a hotel. However, when I compare the dates and rooms available through Chase's UR portal and Amex Travel's, I am still better off with MR points. My only option with UR points is to book a junior suite for 115,439 UR points per night ($1731). Would I do that? Sure if that were the only option or made the most sense for me at a given moment in time depending on what plan, if any, I had for my points. What aggravates me is that when I look at the Amex Travel portal for the same dates, I have also the option to book a deluxe room for 85,325 ($853) per night. Plus, I'd also get the Fine Hotels and Resorts perk of early check in, late check out, room upgrade and resort credit. All things being equal, I would go the MR route for less points and better perks. But, if the MR stash is low or I have other plans for them, then I would use the UR points. So, would I spend over 800,00 UR points to stay at Ashford Castle even knowing I could do it with half the number of points and better perks with MR? Yes.

I also agree that it is very unlikely URs will devalue to less than .01.

Just to confirm, this is the Aspire card? Sounds like you're making very good use of it. It's on my list to consider in the new year.

Yes, it is my favorite sock drawer card!