I love credit cards so much!

[vanjust14]

The ones from Staples are Metabank they should work at Walmart and your local grocery store. The big issue is trying to find a place that does not ask to see the card. I am probably going to Walmart. They don't ask to see the card if I don't ask to do multiple swipes. At Walmart you can get a $1000 MO for .88 cents, so theoretically you can use three $300 cards for one MO, but I'm going to do them one at a time since here I get shut down but other people have more success and can do multiple swipes. You may also have grocery stores that won't ask to see the card. Harris teeter was working for me, but a few months ago they started to ask to see the card. I haven't tried them in a bit. Giant never let me buy an MO without looking at the card. Don't buy more than you can float and you will be fine. If it does not work for you you can use the card for normal purchases and you are still saving money.

Great, thanks. My nearby grocery store is Stop and Shop but I am going to try Walmart. I'll just do one swipe for now and pray they don't ask to see it! If they do, I'll play dumb. I appreciate the info!

 

[Natgridenergy]

I'm still working on it. I'm working up the courage to call back and get the info to transfer it. I got discouraged a few weeks ago when several reps I spoke with said I had to use my UR's when the ressie was transferred and not at final payment, like the first rep said. Which doesn't sound right but since they out numbered the 1 rep that said final payment, I wanted to get my points lined up first in case it turned out to be true. So I have my points, I made my reservation with NCL, got the form but I need some TA info to complete it. I'm going to try to get a good TA on the phone in the next few days and put their info in. I'll report back how it goes.

You have 30 days to transfer it so you can try to book it at the end of the promo. Could also cancel it later if you need to extend your window but just check the new cancellation policy for free cancellations (not sure how far out you're looking.)

Just spoke with Amanda with Chase UR at extension 1118115 because Melissa's extension posted here isn't valid. She said they can transfer it in within 30 days of creation but they are unable to wait until final payment time frame, points would have to be deducted at the time of transfer to them.

 

[pillow]

Keep in mind that January is also refurbishment season at Disneyland, which partly accounts for the low crowds as many attractions may be down. @Albort could probably better advise.

Winters in central and Northern California can be hard to predict. The first week and a half this past February, we had beautiful, sunny weather in the high 60s, and 70s. Last year, we had the wettest winter in decades. But from about mid-March to May, the hills are lush green, wildflowers fill the hills, fields and bluffs — it’s just beautiful. My wife makes fun of how excited I get over spring. And your mom’s not kidding about the Monterey/Pacific Grove/Carmel area — piece of heaven on Earth.

I'm right there with you! I'm the same way - love watching everything turn green. The crowd calendar is 8/9 in March at DL - no way we're doing that. I've been to WDW over spring break and dealt with crowds so many times, I'm just done with it (oh how I long to visit the parks with no crowds and not have to plan every second of the day . . . but I digress). So, you've convinced me. Late March or April. Probably should avoid the weeks on either side of Easter.

 

[peel]

DP: Success booking Disneyland tickets with UR!

I posted this on DISchurners, too, in the Churning for Disney thread.

I booked Disneyland tickets using Ultimate Rewards through the Cruise & Tour department. I bought two 4-day Park Hoppers which cost a total of 47,333 UR (cash value of $710). An interesting hiccup was encountered when the agent checked with a supervisor and said they couldn’t book an e-ticket directly through Disney because at the gate I would need to show my credit card used for purchase, but I obviously couldn’t produce Chase’s payment method and my CSR wouldn’t be represented anywhere on the order. So, I was given two options: #1 Have Disney send me the tickets via standard mail (Chase would pay the $5 shipping cost), or #2 have Disney send the tickets via standard mail to Chase, and then Chase would send them to me via Fedex at no cost to me. I chose #1 because either way they would start their journey through USPS so the risk of being lost was there no matter what.

This was a half hour phone call, most of the time being on hold while they checked into the logistics and completed the order. So, if you go this route don’t expect to be on and off the phone very quickly. YMMV based on which agent you speak to.

Edit: I received confirmation emails from both Disney and Chase while I was still on the phone.

 

[miztressuz]

Have you talked to Melissa at X4179? A few people said she's the best. I'm just going to book the NCL ressie right now and can cancel and get my whopping $4 back if I need to. I' looking for Feb 2019. I havent' talked to Melissa yet.

Just spoke with Amanda with Chase UR at extension 1118115 because Melissa's extension posted here isn't valid. She said they can transfer it in within 30 days of creation but they are unable to wait until final payment time frame, points would have to be deducted at the time of transfer to them.

I'm still trying to get a hold of Melissa or Leon, who was the first rep I spoke with. They changed their ext system so you put 111 in front of any old 4 digit extensions listed. It's still a queue system so if that person isn't immediately available, you get dropped into someone else's queue anyway. And basically what Amanda told you is what everyone other than Leon told me too. So I'm prepped for that if it happens, but I'm still trying to see if I can get Melissa or Leon anyway to at least be the TA on record.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

I have my own bucket list out for a few years for travel. Future tentative plans:
2019 - Olympic NP July; Hawaii Oct
2020 - Alaska Aug
2021 - California - Yosemite and Redwoods NPs
2022 - Acadia NP and New England
You can see the theme - domestic and national park focused. No current plans for international travel but we just watched a show on Antarctica and that looked very interesting so putting on the research list.

We might want to hit a few NPs next year. DS will be in 4th grade and all 4th graders get in all NPs free. We will be in Alaska for a cruise, then will mostly hit Midwest parks which are drivable in a weekend.

 

[amalone1013]

Finally got my car appraisal scheduled... For July 7th darn limbo. DHs is on Wednesday. Oh well, I figure I should know what DHs is Wednesday or Thursday, and mine by Monday July 9th, so I can plan for cards. We've got $1k in deductibles... I'm hoping to swing 2 cards

 

[DisneyMandC]

I chose January because Disney isn't crowded then (touring plans shows 4/5 on the crowd calendar, which isn't bad) and the points required at the Grand Californian are low. But if you think we'd have crummy weather, then I'd rather change the dates and not worry about Disney, which really isn't the focus of this trip. We've been to San Diego already. As much as I loved it, we can skip it on this trip. I suppose I could add a few nights in San Francisco on the front end - DH has been but I haven't. We're planning to come back in late August 2019 (hopefully) to visit Yosemite and to do some Sierra Nevada hiking (that is, IF we can get lodging at the high sierra camps - its a lottery system). My mother has been out multiple times and RAVES about Monterey, Carmel, and Pacific Grove. The flowers in her pics are gorgeous!

I went over MLK Day weekend in 2016. We had a great trip on a Saturday and the crowds were not terrible even though it was also Star Wars marathon weekend. We had nice weather, sweatshirts on all day but it wasn't really cold or anything. Probably low 60s, just too cold for my humid southern blood The only thing I can recall being down for refurbishment is The Haunted Mansion where they were taking down the Christmas decorations. Not sure if Jungle Cruise or Splash Mountain were. I know we didn't want to ride Splash Mountain because we didn't want to get wet, so we may have just never really looked at it.

 

[speedyfishy]

Great, thanks. My nearby grocery store is Stop and Shop but I am going to try Walmart. I'll just do one swipe for now and pray they don't ask to see it! If they do, I'll play dumb. I appreciate the info!

Good luck! Let me know how it goes.

 

[mom2elal]

Has anyone bought DLR tickets from Getaway Today? They want me to put an arrival date in, but you have to pick them up at the ticket booth, so I'd rather pick them up the night before our first day in the parks. Is that possible? Do I have to put our first day in the parks as our arrival date, or can I put the day before so that we can pick them up that day?

 

[Lain]

Has anyone bought DLR tickets from Getaway Today? They want me to put an arrival date in, but you have to pick them up at the ticket booth, so I'd rather pick them up the night before our first day in the parks. Is that possible? Do I have to put our first day in the parks as our arrival date, or can I put the day before so that we can pick them up that day?

I’ve never used Getaway Today, but how do their prices compare with Last Minute Travel Club? LMT Club asks for your travel dates too, but they’ll email your DLR tickets within a few days or placing an order.

ETA: If you’re not yet signed up for LMT Club, you can pretty easily find promo codes for free registration. Never had a problem with them, and they get your tickets to you quickly. LMT Club also codes as travel on the CSR. Try signing up with “WELOVEYOU” or “FOETRAVEL”.

 

[wendow]

Has anyone bought DLR tickets from Getaway Today? They want me to put an arrival date in, but you have to pick them up at the ticket booth, so I'd rather pick them up the night before our first day in the parks. Is that possible? Do I have to put our first day in the parks as our arrival date, or can I put the day before so that we can pick them up that day?

I have also not used getaway today but agree with @Lain. LMTclub is worth checking. They were cheapest for our trip.

They emailed me tickets within 24 hours.

 

[mom2elal]

I’ve never used Getaway Today, but how do their prices compare with Last Minute Travel Club? LMT Club asks for your travel dates too, but they’ll email your DLR tickets within a few days or placing an order.

ETA: If you’re not yet signed up for LMT Club, you can pretty easily find promo codes for free registration. Never had a problem with them, and they get your tickets to you quickly. LMT Club also codes as travel on the CSR. Try signing up with “WELOVEYOU” or “FOETRAVEL”.

Hmm, I'll check them out. My dh gets a discount through work with Getaway Today, but the discount isn't really all that great.

 

[mom2elal]

Wow, LMT was about $100 cheaper for the four tickets. Do you know if there's any way to change them if something happens and we can't go those days?

 

[wendow]

Wow, LMT was about $100 cheaper for the four tickets. Do you know if there's any way to change them if something happens and we can't go those days?

You don’t have to go the exact dates you enter. We didn’t end up going the dates I originally bought for.

 

[miztressuz]

Two new Hilton AmEx offers I found today.

Specific brands for this one - Hilton, Curio and Canopy: Spend $250+ get $50 back

Get a one-time $50 statement credit by using your enrolled Card to spend $250+ on room rate and room charges, when you pay for your stay with participating Hilton properties from 6/25/18 to 9/5/2018. Book direct with Hilton.

Another one's for hotels in the UK: Spend $500+ get $100 back

Get a 1X $100 USD statement credit by using your enrolled Card to spend $500+ USD on room rate and room charges for your stay at Hilton properties in the UK from 6/25/18 to 9/30/18. Book direct with Hilton.

 

[Lain]

Wow, LMT was about $100 cheaper for the four tickets. Do you know if there's any way to change them if something happens and we can't go those days?

There are no dates printed on the tickets (or names for that matter), just the ticket type and an expiration date. You can use the tickets whenever before they expire. Tickets we bought from LMT back in February expire on the earlier of 13 days after first use or 1/13/19.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

I hate the waiting game. We are closing on a refi (hopefully on Saturday). Just got done with DH's CIP spend and waiting on those points so I can book a cruise. Also waiting on SW Business and Plus points to post so I can cancel those cards and then I am going to use DH's referral and apply for CIP. Waiting on ordering new carpeting until I get a a new card. So, when I apply I will be 0/6 and 1/12 so should be good to go on getting the CIP (I hope)

Couple of questions:
1. I used to have the CSR but product changed it to a Freedom Card. Well, now I want the CSR back as I will be booking a cruise with points and the AF will offset the money I am saving with booking with CSR. I also have the CSP which I know I could upgrade but this is the only card that everyone in the family has (Me DH, DS, DS) so would like to keep that as is if possible. But now sure if they will let me upgrade back to CSR if I also have the CSP??

2. So, once the points post for DH's CIP I will have over 200,000 UR's which if I can get the CSR would be worth $3,000 towards a cruise. I haven't really paid much attention to using the Cruise/Tour Dept as I never thought I would use them for this. My understanding is that I can call Chase and book with my points or I can book with Carnival or RCCL and then transfer the booking within 30 days and then I can pay with UR"s. How do you go about doing this? My brother and family will be going also so we will want to book at the same time so we can get rooms by each other. So, thinking booking first with Cruiseline then transferring might be easier but maybe not...

Does your DH have CSR or CSP? If not, maybe he can apply (and earn 50k more points)

You can transfer the booking by calling Chase and asking for Cruise and Tours Department. I have not done it with Chase, but if it’s at all like Costco, they have you fill out a form, then fax it in. They contact the cruise line and get it transferred.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

am still slightly worried about the "business" aspect of the CIP. I have sold something on ebay before and plan to do more now that I am getting divorced and cleaning out stuff, but it would be a stretch to say I generated any sort of income this year from that. I don't sell anything on Etsy or anything like that.

Sell some things on Facebook or Craigslist. Boom. You have a business.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Hello everyone! I've been MIA for awhile and trying to catch up now. My Nana passed away recently and we were very close .

I’m so sorry for your loss.