I love credit cards so much!

[Haley R]

How many nights will you stay at this hotel? Do you know approximately what the cash cost and points cost are per night?

We would be there for 5 nights. It’s showing $269 for normal rate and $253 for Hilton honor member. We want the king celebrio ocean view room. I can’t see how many points this far out.

 

[calypso726]

You don’t actually need to be in the pictures with the shower. I want to keep the thread “G” Rated!!

It will definitely be a G rated pic. I'm the person who prefers board shorts over normal swimsuit bottoms because I'd rather hide the cheese on my pizza.

 

[Haley R]

It will definitely be a G rated pic. I'm the person who prefers board shorts over normal swimsuit bottoms because I'd rather hide the cheese on my pizza.

Lol I’ve never heard that expression before

 

[amalone1013]

You don’t actually need to be in the pictures with the shower. I want to keep the thread “G” Rated!!

I would still take pictures of myself in the shower. Just in clothing or a robe or swimsuit

It will definitely be a G rated pic. I'm the person who prefers board shorts over normal swimsuit bottoms because I'd rather hide the cheese on my pizza.

This is why I ended up on amazon for a new one for our waterpark trip! I swear they dont sell anything like that in store

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

We would be there for 5 nights. It’s showing $269 for normal rate and $253 for Hilton honor member. We want the king celebrio ocean view room. I can’t see how many points this far out.

Approx. When are you guys going? I promise I will formulate some thoughts on this eventually LOL. I’m noodling on some things.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Just looked into canceling my escrow and my insurance was just paid last month and taxes not due until February of next year. Wish I would have looked 2 months ago, could have used that spend!

Bummer

 

[calypso726]

We would be there for 5 nights. It’s showing $269 for normal rate and $253 for Hilton honor member. We want the king celebrio ocean view room. I can’t see how many points this far out.

I'm seeing 67,000 points for that room in June next year. I'd suggest the Hilton Aspire card, even with the $450 fee for the following reasons: You get a free weekend night and a $250 resort credit. Hilton Tokyo Bay is not excluded from the free weekend night and is listed as one of the resorts that would qualify for the resort credit. You get 100,000 points, Diamond status and a $250 airline credit.

 

[Ava]

So remember me, newbie to churning with a reluctant P2, gathering UR for a trip to Australia in Oct/Nov 2020? With a Chase plan all figured out?

Dh has decided that next year (fall) he and I should go to Europe for a vacation Which is super-cool with me but omg

His two choices as of right now-----a Med cruise going to Venice and Athens (at a minimum) (I'd book through Costco) OR a Rick Steves tour through Germany, Austria, and Switzerland bc mountains and hiking

So do I stray from my Chase plan of CIP;SW CP;CIC or CSP/CSR dd over the next year (dh plan: CF referral and asdfhklomgidklol) OR start hitting MR or AA for the Europe flights?

Regardless of cruise vs tour, we'd need airfare plus a night or two before the cruise or tour begins. While we are at the wonderful position of being able to afford to pay actual money for these trips, I'd like to keep our oop as low as possible so we can take more trips.

Thoughts?

You can use UR points to buy flights through the Chase travel portal. If you have a CSR, they’re worth 1.5cpp. Depending on how much the taxes are for your flights, it may be a better deal to just buy your tickets with UR points (which will also cover all the taxes/fees) than to redeem airline miles and pay cash for the taxes. Another plus to buying airline tickets with UR points is that it’s considered a revenue fare so you still earn miles for the flight.

 

[calypso726]

So remember me, newbie to churning with a reluctant P2, gathering UR for a trip to Australia in Oct/Nov 2020? With a Chase plan all figured out?

Dh has decided that next year (fall) he and I should go to Europe for a vacation Which is super-cool with me but omg

His two choices as of right now-----a Med cruise going to Venice and Athens (at a minimum) (I'd book through Costco) OR a Rick Steves tour through Germany, Austria, and Switzerland bc mountains and hiking

So do I stray from my Chase plan of CIP;SW CP;CIC or CSP/CSR dd over the next year (dh plan: CF referral and asdfhklomgidklol) OR start hitting MR or AA for the Europe flights?

Regardless of cruise vs tour, we'd need airfare plus a night or two before the cruise or tour begins. While we are at the wonderful position of being able to afford to pay actual money for these trips, I'd like to keep our oop as low as possible so we can take more trips.

Thoughts?

Well, that depends. My advice has always been to make sure your points are already in place one year before the trip. Most airlines release their flights 330~ days out. Depending on the airline and the class of service, award tickets can disappear fast. If you are looking for flights for next fall you don't have much time to have those points ready to book award flights. If you are booking economy, then you may have a little more of a cushion than if you were looking to book business or first.

Do you know which airline you would be flying for certain? If so, I'd suggest some mock bookings to get an idea of what you will need in terms of miles for an award flight. That information would be your best bet to helping you decide which way to go in terms of cc apps. You can always stick to AA business cards with Citi and Barclay and MR business cards so that you stay under 5/24.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

I'm seeing 67,000 points for that room in June next year. I'd suggest the Hilton Aspire card, even with the $450 fee for the following reasons: You get a free weekend night and a $250 resort credit. Hilton Tokyo Bay is not excluded from the free weekend night and is listed as one of the resorts that would qualify for the resort credit. You get 100,000 points, Diamond status and a $250 airline credit.

@Haley R - You could look to get the Hilton Aspire (as Calypso suggests) and pair it with a couple of Hilton Biz cards. With the base points on the MSR you'd end up with close to 400,000 Hilton points, which would probably cover your 5 nights. I know I don't think you'll get the 5th night free benefit because the category of room you want is a "Premium Reward" I believe. Normally we are all about "focus on Chase first" here but the biz cards wouldn't count against your 5/24 and the Aspire (with the benefits @calypso726 lists) could be pretty sweet for you guys. It seems to warrant consideration in my opinion

EDIT: @calypso726 - when I searched for dates in June for that room category I was seeing 84k points, not sure if it's just the different dates or what. Figured I'd mention that.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

@Haley R and anybody else interested in Hilton cards...DoC has a nice little writeup comparing the FOUR different cards that are available:

https://www.doctorofcredit.com/four-american-express-hilton-cards-compared/

Things to keep in mind:

• The offers listed there may not be 100% accurate as the post is from May and I'm not sure how DoC does at keeping these updated
• Referral offers on these cards may not be as good as the public offer so always ask and check around
• SOMETIMES The best offer with Hilton cards is obtained through a "Dummy Booking"
• AMEX has been testing various offers on these cards so things are somewhat dynamic and could change without much notice
• IF you're in 2 player mode and Hilton points are special in your heart ...you could hit all 4 cards in 2 Player mode, cross referring and earn OVER 1 MILLION hilton points for spending $26,000.
• 3 of these 4 cards WILL count against 5/24 (the Hilton Biz is the only one that won't count)

 

[wendow]

Just looked into canceling my escrow and my insurance was just paid last month and taxes not due until February of next year. Wish I would have looked 2 months ago, could have used that spend!

I've been thinking about doing this too but I wasn't sure how easy it was to cancel those items from the mortgage payment and hold them ourselves. Do you have to have paid down your mortgage and certain amount to be eligible to do that?

 

[calypso726]

@Haley R - You could look to get the Hilton Aspire (as Calypso suggests) and pair it with a couple of Hilton Biz cards. With the base points on the MSR you'd end up with close to 400,000 Hilton points, which would probably cover your 5 nights. I know I don't think you'll get the 5th night free benefit because the category of room you want is a "Premium Reward" I believe. Normally we are all about "focus on Chase first" here but the biz cards wouldn't count against your 5/24 and the Aspire (with the benefits @calypso726 lists) could be pretty sweet for you guys. It seems to warrant consideration in my opinion

EDIT: @calypso726 - when I searched for dates in June for that room category I was seeing 84k points, not sure if it's just the different dates or what. Figured I'd mention that.

Good to know. I just picked one night in June but don't remember which one.

 

[MrPTato]

I've been thinking about doing this too but I wasn't sure how easy it was to cancel those items from the mortgage payment and hold them ourselves. Do you have to have paid down your mortgage and certain amount to be eligible to do that?

Just got a letter in the mail in regards to this. Not sure if this is all lenders but ours (Navy Federal CU) stated that our LTV had to be 80% or less. Ours is conventional and almost at the 80% mark. Will try again next year.

@Judique - They sent me a letter...see above.

 

[wendow]

Just got a letter in the mail in regards to this. Not sure if this is all lenders but ours (Navy Federal CU) stated that our LTV had to be 80% or less. Ours is conventional and almost at the 80% mark. Will try again next year.

@Judique - They sent me a letter...see above.

Good to know, thanks! Is LTV calculated on an appraisal value or what you actually owe? If based on appraisal, we're way lower than that. The constantly increasing Denver housing market has been very good to us.

 

[MrPTato]

Good to know, thanks! Is LTV calculated on an appraisal value or what you actually owe? If based on appraisal, we're way lower than that. The constantly increasing Denver housing market has been very good to us.

I assume that ours is based on the original appraisal from last year when we bought. Not sure how it would work if you are further into the mortgage. Maybe market trends...but that could be risky to the lender without seeing their particular interest.

 

[Haley R]

Approx. When are you guys going? I promise I will formulate some thoughts on this eventually LOL. I’m noodling on some things.

End of May. We were hoping for the week of May 12 but it looks like it may be the week after that.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Good to know, thanks! Is LTV calculated on an appraisal value or what you actually owe? If based on appraisal, we're way lower than that. The constantly increasing Denver housing market has been very good to us.

Typically lenders will base LTV on the original appraised value so you wouldn't benefit from that "increasing housing market" in this calculation.

 

[amalone1013]

The constantly increasing Denver housing market has been very good to us.

Not so much to us

 

[Haley R]

I'm seeing 67,000 points for that room in June next year. I'd suggest the Hilton Aspire card, even with the $450 fee for the following reasons: You get a free weekend night and a $250 resort credit. Hilton Tokyo Bay is not excluded from the free weekend night and is listed as one of the resorts that would qualify for the resort credit. You get 100,000 points, Diamond status and a $250 airline credit.

Alright thanks! I’ll bring this up to Dh and see what he thinks.