I love credit cards so much!

[CyndiLouWho]

Funny..(to me anywa)DP...applied and approved for the Amex BBP last week...haven’t received my card yet, but DHs employee card arrived today....

I um DH applied for CIC on 12/29, appeared in his account 12/31. Received Card, mine and his, last week. Already have significant spend on them. Got an email yesterday from Chase “Congratulations You’re approved!”

 

[palhockeymomof2]

Posted this on the Sheraton Vistana Page, but figured I’d ask here for you seasoned travelers...

A friend just got an offer from Sheraton to come stay at the Sheraton Vistana Villages timeshare in a suite for five nights for $199 plus 15,000 Marriott points. Obviously this is a sweet deal at $40/night. There’s no fine print on the welcome letter, but what should he beware of if he books?

I realize there will be strong pressure to join the sales pitch presentation. He’s not one to give into pressure though.

Has anyone done this or something similar?

Are they sure booking that offer does not require them to attend the timeshare presentation....any offers I’ve received similar to this have required it

 

[georgina]

Posted this on the Sheraton Vistana Page, but figured I’d ask here for you seasoned travelers...

A friend just got an offer from Sheraton to come stay at the Sheraton Vistana Villages timeshare in a suite for five nights for $199 plus 15,000 Marriott points. Obviously this is a sweet deal at $40/night. There’s no fine print on the welcome letter, but what should he beware of if he books?

I realize there will be strong pressure to join the sales pitch presentation. He’s not one to give into pressure though.

Has anyone done this or something similar?

My concern - when I have received those types of deals from timeshare places, you had to buy the deal first and then see if there were dates available that worked with your schedule. So I would be careful to read the fine print on availability, dates excluded, and if there is an expiration date. Even though there is no mention on the offer, if he follows up on it some fine print may suddenly appear about attending a presentation. It is a good deal though! We have stayed at Sheraton Vistana Resort which I believe is a different property, booked through Orbitz, and decided to kill a few hours at the presentation for a Disney gift card. It was a bit hard to get out at the end of it.

 

[MrPTato]

DW wants to hit WDW both before and after our upcoming cruise (originally going to be just relax resort/pool days). Decided to go the Gold AP route as we will be going again in January 2020. I am thinking of doing Staples tomorrow for the fee free VGCs with 10% Amex promo and then going to BB over the next few days for SB and BB points. I'll hit up Lowes for that 10% back once as well for Disney GCs. Both offers are on my BBP.

 

[Psychodisney]

Is she in school in Chicago? We have students from Chamberlain and a few others. Assuming maybe Loyola soon too as we were bought by them.

No, she's at University of Michigan. She was accepted at Loyola, Marquette, U of Minnesota, Pitt and Case Western. Michigan was her top choice. High number of clinical hours and a great university hospital system.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

nearly 50 pages in 4 days . Stop the insanity! I seriously don't know how people keep up with this thread without foregoing showers, meals, etc.

Well I haven’t bathed in 3 days, so maybe that’s my issue.

JK but I seriously didn’t shower until almost noon today because I spent the morning paying bills, reorganizing accounts, checking Disney GC balances, and I still didn’t get to this thread. Here I sit now, reading, as I wait for Costco to call back so I can pay off my cruise.

 

[MrPTato]

Just redeemed my airline credit for SW GC on Amex Gold and also got one on Amazon for the Amex MR promo. $200 in SW GCs for $70.

 

[pillow]

We have checked in to the hotel I've long touted as the best value Marriott category 5 free night you can use, that being the Residence Inn Manhattan/Central Park. We got here around 9 AM (early train), and even though our room wasn't ready yet, they allowed us onto the 3rd floor to have breakfast. That was nice. Breakfast is free for all staying at the Residence regardless of status.

P2 is Platinum Elite from the Ritz card. Once the room was ready, we were given a Platinum gift choice of 250 Marriott points or any one item from the snack bar. I just grabbed a local beer.

Thanks to status, we were upgraded to a Studio Grand Times Square Room on the 61st floor. It's a corner room with a view of the ball drop, for an idea of perspective. The view is of course incredible. The room? Not so much - it's small (although I knew that). It's also surprisingly not very clean. There's mold and mildew in the shower, and visible dust all around the bathroom mirror.

I have to say I'm really shocked. I've always heard how great this hotel is and it's consistently rated highly. I know mold happens in showers but I wouldn't expect it here.

Hopefully anyone else coming here soon has a better experience. We both remarked how glad we were to only be spending one night. I'm curious if this is just a bad room or an endemic problem.

Will post pictures after we get home tomorrow.

This is good to know. We actually wanted to stay there on our upcoming trip, but we have 4 people and would have to get 2 rooms. I debated but we decided to stay at the Marquis. We'll all bunk together but save 20k/night. I was thinking I'd really like to try this hotel when its just DH and I though. Hoping the mold issue its an aberation.

 

[pillow]

I'm interested too. My wife wants to do a Disney Cruise.

(Meanwhile, I've always wanted to travel on one of the Cunard Line ships.)

I really wish there was a way. We book with Costco since they have the best rebate I've found. Then we pay with discounted gift cards. When onboard, rebook to save 10% on the next one. We really enjoy those cruises!

 

[GlamMistress]

Bought another Disney gift card at Target. I didn't get 5% off and I used my Red card. Second time this has happened this month.

 

[kmc8826]

My concern - when I have received those types of deals from timeshare places, you had to buy the deal first and then see if there were dates available that worked with your schedule. So I would be careful to read the fine print on availability, dates excluded, and if there is an expiration date. Even though there is no mention on the offer, if he follows up on it some fine print may suddenly appear about attending a presentation. It is a good deal though! We have stayed at Sheraton Vistana Resort which I believe is a different property, booked through Orbitz, and decided to kill a few hours at the presentation for a Disney gift card. It was a bit hard to get out at the end of it.

@georgina your story makes me feel better!

@MarBee I signed up for a similar deal as your friend this summer and long story short am just going to forfeit the money I put down on it and honestly I would tell your friend to not do it. Mine was a good deal (for Sheraton in AZ) but basically you could not even read the fine print on it until you were signed up. I paid the money and then later tried to book and to get a weekend that would work it was extra. I ended up reserving but we aren’t going to be able to keep it. I actually called yesterday to cancel because they were hounding me (getting the timeshare presentation ready I guess) and they said if you cancel within 60 days you forfeit all funds. I would have called before but had already been told that to rebook you had to pay like $75 fee. I am trying not to think about it and rationalizing it that it was the travel credit for my upgraded SPG Lux anyway.

 

[WVMomof3]

We are on the WV/PA line and very close to MD. They have been calling for anywhere from 1-3" - 3-6". It was supposed to start this morning and nothing but flurries so far. The WV/MD border is in the higher elevation area that always calls for more than in town and our house is between so we usually get more than in town, but not quite as much as the "higher elevations". Hoping it continues as a nonevent. Our roads are terrible with just a small amount of snow.

 

[WVMomof3]

I had the Staples offer on several of my Chase cards so loaded up on Amazon because no plans for Disney. I knew that my Prime fee was due soon, so I thought it was a great way to save on that. Just looked and they charged my card instead of debiting from gift card balances. Grrrrrr Also forgot to cancel my free Kindle Unlimited and they hit my Visa for that also. At least I had loaded a Kindle offer on that card so I got 20% off, but hadn't planned on renewing at all. Double Grrrrrrr.

 

[Haley R]

Bought another Disney gift card at Target. I didn't get 5% off and I used my Red card. Second time this has happened this month.

That’s very upsetting. I would be contacting target.

 

[Judique]

Congrats and hope you pass rofr


We were 1-3 then 2-4. Now they are saying 6-8. Went to the store Friday after school since I normally go Sunday. Store wasn’t too bad crowd wise but bread shelves were almost empty

What is it with bread? It seems to be the first thing I think of along with water and toilet paper (both of which I have plenty of).

But just in case, I asked my DD to make some banana bread with the spotty bananas on my counter. And, maybe I'll figure out an apple dessert with the extra apples I have. At least the house will smell lovely!

 

[Judique]

So birthday discount from Landry’s works at Y&Y? Anyone know when the discount is loaded in your account? Is it the first of the month of your birthday?

My birthday is mid January and my email came Dec 31. And the credit is good until Feb 15.

 

[AmyAnne]

Congrats and hope you pass rofr

Thanks -- I am slightly worried about ROFR because it's $105 per point which, looking at the data from the DVC forum, seems to be right on the edge (some at this price or lower have passed but some others have not). No banked points but all 2019 points.

 

[trstno1]

Thought I'd share a data point. My family has 3 AmEx Platinums and 2 Rose Golds. The personal platinum needs to be cancelled soon to avoid the $550 fee, so because I was anxious, I used it to purchase a $200 Southwest Airlines gift card on January 1st, and it never triggered the credit. All of the other AmEx cards were used to purchase various airline gift cards on 1/2 and 1/3, all of which credited within 3-4 days. Because I still need to cancel that personal AmeX Platinum, I purchased another $200 Southwest gift card on 1/9, and the credit posted today.

In future years I would recommend waiting until 1/2 or 1/3 to purchase airline gift cards.

 

[Judique]

@georgina your story makes me feel better!

@MarBee I signed up for a similar deal as your friend this summer and long story short am just going to forfeit the money I put down on it and honestly I would tell your friend to not do it. Mine was a good deal (for Sheraton in AZ) but basically you could not even read the fine print on it until you were signed up. I paid the money and then later tried to book and to get a weekend that would work it was extra. I ended up reserving but we aren’t going to be able to keep it. I actually called yesterday to cancel because they were hounding me (getting the timeshare presentation ready I guess) and they said if you cancel within 60 days you forfeit all funds. I would have called before but had already been told that to rebook you had to pay like $75 fee. I am trying not to think about it and rationalizing it that it was the travel credit for my upgraded SPG Lux anyway.

Same boat here. I signed up for an offer which was a no brainer at the time. I had to wait to get my days but eventually they came. Then I had to cancel my trip. They offered me the $75 rebooking fee as well. I'm letting it go. Just too much going on and the one week I felt comfortable booking was going to be $100 extra. Years ago, I did this offer and it went off without a hitch. So I wasn't afraid to do it, although I have had the offer multiple times, this time was so perfect to fit in my plans. I guess that's why people purchase trip insurance, lol!

I was a last minute cancellation but they still offered to let me come for the $75 - I guess they figure a bird in hand is worth two in the bush. I would have rebooked for free, but not for more money. There's a point where its a deal and its not a deal.

 

[schmass]

Not CC related, but relates to the Disney dining talk from a few days ago. My DD asked me to make her a Snow White dress for our May trip, so of course then I decided that we have to go to the Storybook Dining to meet Snow White. I've been checking for the past few days with no luck. Just now I had this weird feeling that I should check again and I got a reservation at the perfect time! So excited!