I love credit cards so much!

[Haley R]

Don't worry, there's usually some obnoxious person or group to provide entertainment

I couldn't function without my kindle but I have old eyes so the huge font size is perfect for me. I seriously take it everywhere with me

I’ve been addicted to my phone lately because I’m reading the series called “The Gender Game”. It’s SO good!

 

[Haley R]

Unless you 1) get a new cc that has GE credit and 2) you make a quick trip to Mall of America to put some spend on that card. Lol.

No I’m good lol. If we went to Minneapolis it would be for a hockey game. We do love the rides at the mall though

 

[Haley R]

Our closest one is 4 hours away, but we just happen to be going to St. Louis next weekend, which is 6 hours away, so I went ahead and made the appointment there.

Well that worked out nicely!

 

[mom2elal]

Can I ask an question about magic bands? We've haven't been to WDW since magic bands became a thing. We have a split stay, where we are first staying in the Doubletree at DS, then staying at POR. Do we need magic bands? And if we do, how do we get them, and will we be able to use them for the whole trip? TIA!

 

[palhockeymomof2]

Can I ask an question about magic bands? We've haven't been to WDW since magic bands became a thing. We have a split stay, where we are first staying in the Doubletree at DS, then staying at POR. Do we need magic bands? And if we do, how do we get them, and will we be able to use them for the whole trip? TIA!

Since your staying onsite you get magic bands for free...you can pick the color you’d like and they ship about a month before your stay..you link your park tickets and can use them your whole stay. You’ll only be able to use them for charging back to the room when your at POR

 

[snugglebug]

Thank you! I've been all over DOC and searching /churning with no luck, totally forgot flyertalk. Now I see DPs. Looks they were able to sm and get the points. I'm making the purchase, just trying to decide which card and I think the Freedom 5x would be best as I need the URs. Both CIP and CSR would be 1x so I think I just go for it on Freedom.

Quoting myself. My Costco.com purchase coded just fine on Freedom for 5x. Setting up my new laptop now. I was going to wait and use it toward MSR on new cards, but just could not wait any longer, I was way overdue for an upgrade and no plans for new cards until December-ish.

 

[Sarah_B]

One Mile at a Time[/URL] blog for trip reports... is that what your looking for?

This is a fun read, even if its not specifically what you're looking for . . .
https://frequentmiler.boardingarea.com/2017/02/24/protea-hotel-kruger-gate-by-marriott/

Try r/awardtravel instead.

Thank you, all very fun for evening reading.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

No I’m good lol. If we went to Minneapolis it would be for a hockey game. We do love the rides at the mall though

I haven’t been to that mall in 20 years but we did drive 8 hrs to Minneapolis for a soccer game.

 

[Alexle2007]

Same for me! I'm just waiting for the points to hurry up and post so I can cancel and avoid the fee. Fee hit 10/1, payment due 10/22 ($0), points will post 10/25 (confirmed by calling). I'm antsy seeing the $99 sitting there but we will be fine to get a full refund. With my Plus card my points posted first so I wasn't so antsy.

Who did you call about the points? My statement closed 10/3 and I am still waiting on my 3k to hit my RR. My Premier hit the following day but my Plus is being stubborn!

 

[kmc8826]

Does anyone know how undercover tourist charges code for Capital One?

Yes. It has been a while but I have never read anything different.

Did anyone else receive the promotion from Plastiq about earning 1 FFD for every dollar spent through Plastiq on a mastercard? If I'm reading the promotion correctly, this is amazing. I have a bill of around $7500 that I'll be processing through Plastiq towards the end of the month. Does that mean I'll earn 7500 FFDs??

I'm a little sad I didn't get this email a couple of days ago since I just paid several very large bills through Plastiq, but I will take what I can get!

I have an account and so does DH (so basically I have 2). I got the email on the one. So happy haven't paid mortgage yet for this month. I did notice that be sure not to use any existing fee free dollars if you want it to credit. The payment for my mortgage and loan will pay for meet the MSR on the Arrival Plus. That was the easiest MSR of $5000 I have ever had!

 

[Alexle2007]

I can second the gum thing. I used to cry every time we went on a plane when I was little because of the pressure. I have really bad ears and had tubes in my ears as a kid. My dad always brought gum and would sit and chomp with me. It helped some but there would be times my ears wouldn’t pop until after being in the airport for an hour.

I used to join DS with the gum but I don’t think my braces would appreciate it now

 

[Judique]

50 points for me in the Marriott game. Easier than doing the surveys for IHG and Amtrak.

 

[Alexle2007]

Yep it would be 3 1/2 ish to get to Minneapolis and I think that is our closest one. I’m thinking we may just bite the bullet and stand in the possible 2 hour line. That’s what phones are for right?

Unfortunately not when clearing customs. You are supposed to have your phones turned off.

 

[vanjust14]

Do we need to actually pay the fee if the points post? I understand it would be refunded, but would it be possible to just cancel or will it be impossible to cancel with the charge on the account?

You should be able to just cancel, no need to pay the fee.
ETA: I see @miztressuz has you covered!

Who did you call about the points? My statement closed 10/3 and I am still waiting on my 3k to hit my RR. My Premier hit the following day but my Plus is being stubborn!

I called Chase and said I needed the points to book airfare and was wondering when they would post. She said the points would hit right after statement close.
Has your fee posted yet?

 

[Livelovedance]

If you do it, I would probably change to the CSR for it. If you spend the $300 travel credit on things you planned to pay for anyways, the AF is effectively $150 so you're paying an additional $55 in AF to get a $100 service.

In reference to your first post you couldn’t get a CSR on its own until 48 months after you got the points on the CSP. So the product change would make sense. I don’t know if you have any Amex cards? The tsa/global precheck is a credit in some of them. I have it on my CSR but also now on the SPG Lux. So something to consider if you want to start targeting getting points for flights. That’s exciting to plan and look forward too! You could always see if you can get her to start working the credit card angle too. Then you could refer her!

Thanks for the information! I definitely won't be at 48 months by then so I'll consider the product change. Would the $300 travel credit include the cost of the ABD trip? I'd have to figure out if I'd save anything changing to the CSR + getting global entry, vs keeping the CSP and paying for global entry separately. I know booking travel makes the UR value higher, but so far I only use my URs to transfer to SW, so that doesn't help. I only have the AmEx Blue Cash, but I don't think I have any good use for MRs. We don't travel too many places besides WDW, and we're happy with that. I'm extremely excited about this trip to Japan, but I honestly expect it to be a one and done for me as far as international travel is concerned. I've got time to think about it though!

 

[vanjust14]

I didn't know I could book swa with citi.... it's not a transfer partner, so I assumed I couldn't! so I'd have to call and book thru their portal for swa?

I know me neither , I came across it looking for ways to get more RR points. I haven't tried it yet, but you should be able to call Citi and give them the SWA flight info and use Citi points to pay. I'm going to try it once I meet MSR and get my bonus points.

 

[miztressuz]

Insight into my mini roller coaster ride as I read through -

Ugh! I played and got nothing!!

Sucks but I guess we know it really is a 1:2 chance. Sorry you had to be #2

Quoting myself, I actually got 50 points. Nothing showed up on the Marriott screen but I have an email stating that I got 50 points. At least its something....

I was feeling like the loser at the party!!!

woohoo, let someone else be #2 even if it is only 45 cents!

 

[Haley R]

I haven’t been to that mall in 20 years but we did drive 8 hrs to Minneapolis for a soccer game.

The mall is pretty fun. They have a ride just like soarin

 

[Haley R]

I used to join DS with the gum but I don’t think my braces would appreciate it now

Lol probably not

 

[Alexle2007]

yes, its only available to US citizens. i think u still wait in line(different?). GE... u can get through customs in less than a minute lol.
im not sure, never used it. that came out after i got GE.

We’ve used when we returned from our Disney cruises and cruised through customs then. I didn’t know you could use it for flights but we have GE now so it doesn’t matter.