I love credit cards so much!

[disneymagicgirl]

Just a thought, the Amex Plat is not the best for non-cat spend because it doesn't have any cat bonuses except for 5x airfare and hotels booked through Amex Travel. If you want a good non-cat spend card for MRs, the Blue for Business Plus is by far the best bet (2x MRs on every dollar spent up to $50k annually).

Thank you! Making a note to get that next for him. I know nothing about MRs.
I did see dis hotels on the amex travel site this morning when I was playing around. It seemed expensive, but I'm not sure how MR compare to UR, so I'm not sure. For example a $7xx GF room for about 100k MR. Seems would be better to cash out at 1cpp and pay for the GF room, thus earning cc points at the same time.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Well I guess I skipped too many pages. What happened with Chase cards in the past week-ish? Anyone know what page that news was on?

Oh man. Have a seat.

Double dips appear to be dead, Chase is approving and then cancelling the second card. Sometimes they call to ask what you want to cancel, sometimes they don’t. One person here was within $100 of meeting MSR on a cancelled card.

Cruise & Tours does not book disney anymore at all (maybe DCL? Jury still out there). All disney hotels are not bookable via CSP & CSR UR portals. You can book them via CF & CFU at 1cpp rates. Phone reps can see CF/CFU availability but cannot book at CSP or CSR rates. We are waiting for info from Chase as to if this is permanent.

 

[kayteekt]

Well I'm hunkered down here in SC waiting for "slow Flo" to pass. Catching up on the disboards. Just found out today my MIL is going to come with on our Disney trip end of next month. I was going to use UR points to get her ticket and Halloween party ticket and was seriously considering doing After Hours party tix for all of our family members (9) for our January trip while I had Chase Tours on the phone.

Went to the reddit forum and saw this posted on the top of the Churning for Disney section...
PLEASE NOTE - ALL OF THE TIPS HERE ON USING ULTIMATE REWARDS (URs) MAY NOT BE ACCURATE DUE TO A CHANGE THAT OCCURRED ON OR AROUND 9/14/2018!!!!

I didn't see any info about what that meant, then came here scoured all of the posts from Thursday-early Saturday. So far I've not seen any info. What does that mean?

ETA: Well once I posted this and looked at the last page here, I see my answer and it's not good Not good at all. The posts I've seen refer to packages. Any chance can still buy tickets?

 

[disneymagicgirl]

If they block the link that means you shouldn't go around it and type out the name of the co. There's not a ton of companies or TA's that are blocked, but they are and that's the perogative of the Dis. I've seen people get warned by mods for spelling it out when they said the sote was blocked. It's why you'll often see people suggest to google things and give a small hint how to find them. I see it most often on the resorts board but it's a rule throughout.

Do they sell insurance themselves? I haven't noticed it advertised so I don't understand why they don't want it discussed. The other TAs I do understand as they are competitors...and darn good ones.

 

[DaveL]

Lots of bad news.
Double dip is dead. Chase canceling cards double dipped since end of August, maybe more.
Booking Disney packages with UR dead. Disney resorts show in portal on CF only, not CSR or CSP right now.

I’m sure I forgot other stuff.

Oh man. Have a seat.

Double dips appear to be dead, Chase is approving and then cancelling the second card. Sometimes they call to ask what you want to cancel, sometimes they don’t. One person here was within $100 of meeting MSR on a cancelled card.

Cruise & Tours does not book disney anymore at all (maybe DCL? Jury still out there). All disney hotels are not bookable via CSP & CSR UR portals. You can book them via CF & CFU at 1cpp rates. Phone reps can see CF/CFU availability but cannot book at CSP or CSR rates. We are waiting for info from Chase as to if this is permanent.

Well crud!! That Disney part is painful! Wonder if that also blocks transfers?

 

[gottalovepluto]

Well crud!! That Disney part is painful! Wonder if that also blocks transfers?

Yes

 

[Judique]

I actually booked two nights Marriott Village after Swan, so will use it there. But if I could get back points from Swan stay, it would be better. Doubted I could but worth trying. Lol.


I’m chicken to do this. Not worth it if it doesn’t trigger $300 Lux credit and $60 offer.

I wouldn't mess with your Swan reservation if you booked it before the changes took place. YMMV, but maybe going to a local Marriott and buying a gift card would be your best bet and then on checkin at Marriott Village hotel, you could pay with the gift card. Like SFF, it may work, it may not work. You take your chances.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Do they sell insurance themselves? I haven't noticed it advertised so I don't understand why they don't want it discussed. The other TAs I do understand as they are competitors...and darn good ones.

I believe insurnace with Disney is an add on they can sell, but not other insurance issuers.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Well I'm hunkered down here in SC waiting for "slow Flo" to pass. Catching up on the disboards. Just found out today my MIL is going to come with on our Disney trip end of next month. I was going to use UR points to get her ticket and Halloween party ticket and was seriously considering doing After Hours party tix for all of our family members (9) for our January trip while I had Chase Tours on the phone.

Went to the reddit forum and saw this posted on the top of the Churning for Disney section...
PLEASE NOTE - ALL OF THE TIPS HERE ON USING ULTIMATE REWARDS (URs) MAY NOT BE ACCURATE DUE TO A CHANGE THAT OCCURRED ON OR AROUND 9/14/2018!!!!

I didn't see any info about what that meant, then came here scoured all of the posts from Thursday-early Saturday. So far I've not seen any info. What does that mean?

Means you can’t use URs to buy anything you’re considering there for now

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Couple questions on USO tickets through Chase...

Has anyone here actually bought their USO tickets through the Chase portal? I looked earlier through my CIP and the 1 cpp cash price was higher than the price on Universal's website and I was concerned that you had to choose a date for the tickets. I know you do on Universal too, but I didn't know if I had to use the ticket on THAT date, or if it was just for pricing purposes.

Any issues with using tickets purchased through Chase? I assume email delivery is an option?

If anyone with a CSR is feeling generous this morning, would you mind letting me know the number of URs needed for 2 adults for 2 day PTP tickets?

I am behind so this may have been answered already...This is one adult...so about 40k URs

 

[DaveL]

Yes

Well that just took their value down to 1x for me so really no reason to keep the CSR for another year.

 

[AmyAnne]

Geeze, what if someone has an extended layover?

On the other hand, I think it's better that 2 people get to use the lounge for 3 hours than for one person to use it for 6 hours. Limited access is better than no access.

I'm glad I've been able to get in to a few lounges because of the PP and AmEx Plat, but I have only been mildly impressed. It's a nice perk but I definitely will not be paying any AF because of lounge access. If I were flying a lot internationally, might be a different story.

 

[kayteekt]

Means you can’t use URs to buy anything you’re considering there for now

Oh. my. word. Sure wish I would have looked here before DH extended the invite. I guess that's $600 we're spending that I was planning to use CC rewards for

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Oh. my. word. Sure wish I would have looked here before DH extended the invite. I guess that's $600 we're spending that I was planning to use CC rewards for

we feel your pain

 

[AmyAnne]

Were you going through the UR portal for CSR?

@DisneyMandC I found them. Went through CSR UR portal (on the app, I’m on mobile right now) and got all ticket options from PTP 1 day through 5 day tickets! I think the only thing they don’t have now is the 1 day base ticket!
You didn’t mention 2 Park PTP or 3 Park PTP so here’s both & I gave 3 day prices because it’s super cheap to tack on a 3rd day if that’s in the cards and the promo rates could make 4 days for the cost of 2?

2 Park PTP:
-2 day PTP 19,479 for my random day of Oct 5 (cash cost via UR $292.19)
-3 day PTP 20,579 UR ($308.69)

3 Park PTP:
-2 day 23,521 ($352.82)
-3 day 24,551 ($368.27)

They also had “promo” offer but I’m too scared I might accidentally book it if I click “book it” looking for more info...
-2 Park PTP 4 day Promo 19,479
-3 Park PTP 4 day Promo 23,521

I am behind so this may have been answered already...This is one adult...so about 40k URs
View attachment 351231

Not the OP but also appreciate this info -- I need 6 2-day PTP tickets for December so I should probably get serious about figuring out how to pay for them.

I seem to recall that someone a while ago posted that USO tickets were discounted for Black Friday -- does anyone have any experience with this?

 

[LuckyMamaInDE]

How "valuable" are BA Avios and how easy are they to use? How would you rank them compared to United or AA? I'm trying to decide which Chase card should be next for dh (CSP, 1/24, no biz cards pls). He's got a considerable amount of spending this next month or two so I was looking at the World of Hyatt and the BA personal because of the higher rewards with higher spending levels. He will also want to get United Explorer (not club) and Marriott personal in the future. No luck yet getting 100K Plat.

We fly from PHL and BWI primarily but also use EWR and IAD as needed. Future travels include Australia fall 2020 and Germany/Switzerland/Austria.

 

[chattadisser]

Geeze, what if someone has an extended layover?

I hope they don't spread this to all lounges. We had a flight delayed in Phoenix for 7 hours and it was much more bearable waiting in the lounge than in the gate area. I'd rather they just limit the time you could be there. Our flight at 8AM was cancelled and there wasn't much open at that time. If I was limited to three hours total, I would have rather had the lounge from 8-11, rather later in the day when more food locations are open. Or maybe just limit the amount of time you can stay during the height of the day?

 

[Albort]

i may have missed it but someone on reddit posted that Disney is going through a revamp of their system so it could be the reason why its down at Chase.
@SouthFayetteFan comment it, not sure why he hasnt posted it here... unless i missed it.

I work in the travel industry as a software engineer and right now Disney is undergoing a huge revamp of the system they use to let external companies make bookings with them and it's causing issues with a lot of companies. I would wait until about mid-October to see if this is truly a permanent change.

hang on to your pants tight guys!

 

[striker1064]

Thank you! Making a note to get that next for him. I know nothing about MRs.
I did see dis hotels on the amex travel site this morning when I was playing around. It seemed expensive, but I'm not sure how MR compare to UR, so I'm not sure. For example a $7xx GF room for about 100k MR. Seems would be better to cash out at 1cpp and pay for the GF room, thus earning cc points at the same time.

Unfortunately, you cannot cashout MRs for 1 cpp. It's something like 0.6 cpp or 0.7 cpp, so it's a very poor use of them. They do better as airline transfers. However, if you want to cash them out, you can get the Schwab Platinum and a Schwab checking + brokerage account, and cash out all your MRs for 1.25 cpp (and that's pure cash you can then transfer to your checking account). That's what I did. You can even use a code when you open the Schwab brokerage and checking for a $100 bank bonus.

 

[kayteekt]

i may have missed it but someone on reddit posted that Disney is going through a revamp of their system so it could be the reason why its down at Chase.
@SouthFayetteFan comment it, not sure why he hasnt posted it here... unless i missed it.

hang on to your pants tight guys!

That would be fabulous. However, with an October trip, I'll have to go ahead and pull the trigger on tix now. Maybe there's hope for the future. I really don't have any other use (besides Disney) for my 500k stash of UR points.