I love credit cards so much!

[calypso726]

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

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.

We aren't on the FIRE path but do plan on retiring somewhat early. The goal is when DH is 55 and I'm 59. We do save for retirement, contribute to our 401Ks, fully fund both IRAs, the mortgage is paid off, we have no kids, no credit card debt and no student loans. We will keep our cars until they die and we tend to stick to Toyotas because they take a long time to die

Now, that said, we do splurge on experiences like ABD, DCL etc. Travel hacking allows us to mitigate the costs of those experiences and helps fund other experiences. We would rather have experiences over having things. For us, there is a line between saving for our retirement and YOLO. We walk that line.

 

[trenty]

We aren't on the FIRE path but do plan on retiring somewhat early. The goal is when DH is 55 and I'm 59. We do save for retirement, contribute to our 401Ks, fully fund both IRAs, the mortgage is paid off, we have no kids, no credit card debt and no student loans. We will keep our cars until they die and we tend to stick to Toyotas because they take a long time to die

Now, that said, we do splurge on experiences like ABD, DCL etc. Travel hacking allows us to mitigate the costs of those experiences and helps fund other experiences. We would rather have experiences over having things. For us, there is a line between saving for our retirement and YOLO. We walk that line.

I am pretty much the same, except we have kids.

 

[Luvdancink]

since I’m coming to terms with not using my UR for Disney and actually paying for it (insert shock) I started looking at ways to save. Has anyone used the Labor Day travel agency? Do they give discounts on anything other than room only bookings? Do they take Disney gift cards for Payment? This trip I’m looking to book is going to be pricey. We need a total of 4 rooms and I want to do a bunch of add ons as well as it will probably be the extended family’s only trip. Of course I’m always open to chase changing their mind. It will save me thousands!

 

[miztressuz]

Thanks for your input! At this point I’m almost seriously considering switching to the normal room. We won’t be in the room hardly at all and we could save the other points for something else. I’m going to keep the booking for now and see how many points we save up before we go.

If it were me, I'd look at a split stay. For the days you are running around, grab the regular hotel room to save the points. If you have 2 nights where you could be in the room more, schedule the spiffy one to try it out.

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 has a dining program too, while not instant like the MPX app, I recall the points posted within a few days. Just to give you an option while you figure out what to do with them.

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!

That's the power of spreadsheets and online dining menus! I still have my sheet down to the penny when we did a family trip during free dining. Had to compare using the room discount and paying OOP vs paying full price room and upgrading to regular dining plan. (Since we went during F&W, free dining actually won)

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

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

My older daughter will enter college when I’m 45. My goal would is to have work be “optional” at that time. We are currently on track to achieve that by the time I’m 42 so things are going well. AND None of these figures assume my wife working more when the kids get older (currently a SAHM) Between ages 45-53 I could continue working to pay for their college. (And if I can’t make enough in 1 year to pay college tuition then we need to reconsider that plan for the girls LOL!)

 

[Judique]

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?

How about shopping through the Mileage plus shopping portal?

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

@Luvdancink, Check out the Disney thread on DISchurners

If you ask questions there I’ll be happy to answer too.

 

[trenty]

My older daughter will enter college when I’m 45. My goal would is to have work be “optional” at that time. We are currently on track to achieve that by the time I’m 42 so things are going well. AND None of these figures assume my wife working more when the kids get older (currently a SAHM) Between ages 45-53 I could continue working to pay for their college. (And if I can’t make enough in 1 year to pay college tuition then we need to reconsider that plan for the girls LOL!)

Save for college now! This is one area where we wish we put more away when we were younger.

 

[jhoannam]

Lol - that really wouldn’t change my opinion. The SFF accounting system and GAAP rules we follow do not allow us to attribute bank bonus income to travel...yes that sounds crazy and it is true hahaha.

It’s really not about the cost - we can do it if we want...it’s just that I’m also cheap (like SUPER cheap)...and so now that I’ve psychologically set a price for this trip in my mind it’s hard for me to spend $600 more now.

Do it! This was our upgrade view from bed.

 

[StephPlum]

For those of you with a CIP and use to pay your phone bill for the insurance, how does that work with the family? Is immediate family covered or do they need to be "employees"? Also do you need to pay for a certain amount of time before insurance would kick in (ie what stops someone from having an issue with the phone and then just charging one month on the CIP and making a claim)? DS has had all sorts of issues with his phone and is getting a new one in December but trying to decide if I 1) keep my CIP to pay the bill for insurance or 2) buy the insurance from Verizon.

 

[StephPlum]

My Marriott points from the 29 ways to stay posted yesterday. Nothing on DH account. Any DPs out there? Did everyone get their points?

 

[CyndiLouWho]

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.

True, I doubt UR points will drop below .01 but they could suddenly stop the program or other changes. All just speculation. To me the points are to spend (I save the money) though I am also conservative and still looking for value. However, we all have different goals. Even though I COULD pay cash for my vacation, if I have points I’m using those first, not saving for something that might never come.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

My older daughter will enter college when I’m 45. My goal would is to have work be “optional” at that time. We are currently on track to achieve that by the time I’m 42 so things are going well. AND None of these figures assume my wife working more when the kids get older (currently a SAHM) Between ages 45-53 I could continue working to pay for their college. (And if I can’t make enough in 1 year to pay college tuition then we need to reconsider that plan for the girls LOL!)

It’s nice to make that much money. I see resident physicians now graduating medical school with over $400k in student loans.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

I booked the whole stay and they let you use that slider bar to say how many points you want to use. We used all 241k points and the rest says how much is left (in yen) but it comes out to around $600 left over in cash to pay for the rest. I don’t believe we pay that until we arrive though. It’s free cancellation so we will either switch to the cheaper room or wait until we have more points and maybe try to cancel and rebook. Dh said he’s fine paying the $600 but obviously I won’t pay it if I don’t have to. We also could cancel, book only some nights that we can pay in points, and try to book the rest through chase

How much was the total cost before using the points? That slider has never made any sense when I have tried to use it. It always seems to take a ton of points and I still have a huge balance, I think must have to do with points only bookings not charging resort fees and taxes, whereas when you do the combo you pay both.

ETA: I just remembered I did use the slider 1 time where it made sense to me. I had 2 nights at an embassy for hockey. I also had a $75 back on $250 or something amex offer. So I did the slider to be just enough points to leave the $250 charge so the offer would credit.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Thanks for your input! At this point I’m almost seriously considering switching to the normal room. We won’t be in the room hardly at all and we could save the other points for something else. I’m going to keep the booking for now and see how many points we save up before we go.

seems like a great plan

 

[disneymagicgirl]

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!

Want me to check Priceline opaque deals? There are shockingly some on there throughout the year coming up. I saw some for my Memorial Day dates even. And sept rates that were out of this world...like those of the elusive travel agency.

ETA: First set of dates, mod (CSR?) $126, deluxe for $201, $221, value $93 (seems AoA)

let me know if you want more

 

[wendow]

Want me to check Priceline opaque deals? There are shockingly some on there throughout the year coming up. I saw some for my Memorial Day dates even. And sept rates that were out of this world...like those of the elusive travel agency.

ETA: First set of dates, mod (CSR?) $126, deluxe for $201, $221, value $93 (seems AoA)

let me know if you want more

This is great pricing! How do I check for this?!? We did Hotwire mystery deals before and got POFQ. But nothing is coming up for our dates there.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Disney merchandise resellers: APs are being revoked for merchandise reselling. I hadn’t heard this before but tbh it’s not my jam... https://www.disboards.com/threads/d...-souvenirs-oc-register.3724091/#post-60024336

Idk if we even have any here but even if we have some as lurkers and they haven’t heard yet FYI. If it’s happening at DL it’s prob coming to WDW soon...

Isn't it part of the free market to buy something and resell it? Maybe this is for items that are purchase quantity limited? That would make more sense. Otherwise I don't understand.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

This is great pricing! How do I check for this?!? We did Hotwire mystery deals before and got POFQ. But nothing is coming up for our dates there.

There is a long thread about it. They recently removed the dead give-away resort descriptions, so it is harder to pinpoint the exact resort now, but we can tell if it is disney or not. You want to narrow to bonnet creek and then the amenities are ONLY restaurant, wifi, and pool. 4 star deluxe, 3.5 is mod, 3 is value. Then to try and pinpoint the resort you can look at the original price (not exact number but close) and the _/10 score, and number of reviews. I also use hotel canary on chrome to confirm. I will tag you on the thread.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

since I’m coming to terms with not using my UR for Disney and actually paying for it (insert shock) I started looking at ways to save. Has anyone used the Labor Day travel agency? Do they give discounts on anything other than room only bookings? Do they take Disney gift cards for Payment? This trip I’m looking to book is going to be pricey. We need a total of 4 rooms and I want to do a bunch of add ons as well as it will probably be the extended family’s only trip. Of course I’m always open to chase changing their mind. It will save me thousands!

You can book packages thru them as well if you like and/or add just tickets. You can also pay with gift cards. My Jan ressie is through them and I paid with GC.
Also, check out Priceline opaque deals. (See my post to wendow above about that.)