I love credit cards so much!

[pillow]

While I am asking questions, I know there were also parents who had kids study abroad, any tips for that? Money, phones, how not to panic when they are a half world away for so long, etc...

DS went to the Dominican Republic in Dec/Jan for 2 weeks when he was 20. Got him what I THOUGHT was a debit card to use at ATM's to withdraw funds. However, it was actually an ATM card. I thought those two things were the same???!!! And even if they aren't the same, it would seem that you'd be able to use an ATM to withdraw from . . . an ATM! But he had issues getting money. I have always used airport ATM's to withdraw foreign currency with my debit and its been easy peasy. Just didn't realize his card would be a problem. So - I'd check that maybe. And even though I hate paying the extra fees to change money prior to travel, I think I might do it anyway for a kid. DS is an anxious traveler, so we should have done that before he left.

We did a Verizon international plan for the month. He went over on data cause he was constantly using his phone to translate. We hadn't anticipated that.

Would recommend a carry-on with 2 days worth of clothing + any meds. DS's luggage was lost, and he panicked.

Overall is was a great trip for him. He just hated getting to and from there.

What program is she(?) doing? Is this your DD that just graduated HS?

 

[tink1970]

While I am asking questions, I know there were also parents who had kids study abroad, any tips for that? Money, phones, how not to panic when they are a half world away for so long, etc...

LOL! The past 5 years my DD has just done summer trips overseas in Scotland, Italy/Germany and Spain. To communicate she would use Skype and What's App ("it's used everywhere") for calling and texting; for money I would send a couple of credit cards and some pounds/Euro (if she were for longer period I would have sent a debit card though), and not worrying...well, if she wasn't texting I knew she was having a good time so I used no news is good news philosophy. I believe one of the Cali ladies (either calfan or californiagirl09 [they travel together so I get them interchanged] has a DD in England studying) so hopefully she'll chime in.

ETA- Funny story, one summer when she was in Scotland, someone broke into her dorm room and stole her money. She would offer to run errands to the Tesco right before lights out for anyone wanting late night snacks and she'd keep the change. This is how she got by with very little cash. I asked her why she didn't use her credit card and "you said that was for emergencies, Mom." Not sure what an emergency is if it isn't being away from home with your money stolen, but I was proud of her initiative!

Also, it helps to know who is in charge of the program where they are studying and good contact numbers just in case-for your peace of mind. Then take a deep breath and know that you've done what you could do in raising an independent person. Good luck

 

[WVMomof3]

DS went to the Dominican Republic in Dec/Jan for 2 weeks when he was 20. Got him what I THOUGHT was a debit card to use at ATM's to withdraw funds. However, it was actually an ATM card. I thought those two things were the same???!!! And even if they aren't the same, it would seem that you'd be able to use an ATM to withdraw from . . . an ATM! But he had issues getting money. I have always used airport ATM's to withdraw foreign currency with my debit and its been easy peasy. Just didn't realize his card would be a problem. So - I'd check that maybe. And even though I hate paying the extra fees to change money prior to travel, I think I might do it anyway for a kid. DS is an anxious traveler, so we should have done that before he left.

We did a Verizon international plan for the month. He went over on data cause he was constantly using his phone to translate. We hadn't anticipated that.

Would recommend a carry-on with 2 days worth of clothing + any meds. DS's luggage was lost, and he panicked.

Overall is was a great trip for him. He just hated getting to and from there.

What program is she(?) doing? Is this your DD that just graduated HS?

This is my college Junior. She will be there the whole Spring semester. They don't give much time to plan these things! 2 weeks ago they were having a great sale to South Africa, but she did not have acceptance yet or know her dates. What I found for less than $600 roundtrip I am now seeing for $1600 roundtrip. Boohoo Most flights I am seeing are for 24-30 hours. Seems not fun to me!

And now I am confused on the difference between ATM and Debit. lol I would think they were the same also.

 

[Lain]

I am familiar with Southwest where you can use your own points to book someone else a ticket. Is this the same with all airlines? Specifically looking at United, I think.

I know there were several people heading to South Africa soon. Any tips you can give me on booking a ticket. Quickly. Would love to use points if I can, but only with what I already have because I need to book soon. I have URs so not much choice, I think. And for economy because my 20 year old does not need to know about other ways to travel until it is on her own dime.

While I am asking questions, I know there were also parents who had kids study abroad, any tips for that? Money, phones, how not to panic when they are a half world away for so long, etc...

Yes. You can use your UA points to book award travel for someone else, even if you’re not on the itinerary. Award availability for economy should be readily available, but the earlier out you book the better your chance at redeeming for saver fares. The United Explorer card gets you increased award availability. Always compare the award ticket cost in UA miles to what it would cost to book through Chase using UR points, especially since transferring out UR—>UA is 1:1.

 

[WVMomof3]

LOL! The past 5 years my DD has just done summer trips overseas in Scotland, Italy/Germany and Spain. To communicate she would use Skype and What's App ("it's used everywhere") for calling and texting; for money I would send a couple of credit cards and some pounds/Euro (if she were for longer period I would have sent a debit card though), and not worrying...well, if she wasn't texting I knew she was having a good time so I used no news is good news philosophy. I believe one of the Cali ladies (either calfan or californiagirl09 [they travel together so I get them interchanged] has a DD in England studying) so hopefully she'll chime in.

ETA- Funny story, one summer when she was in Scotland, someone broke into her dorm room and stole her money. She would offer to run errands to the Tesco right before lights out for anyone wanting late night snacks and she'd keep the change. This is how she got by with very little cash. I asked her why she didn't use her credit card and "you said that was for emergencies, Mom." Not sure what an emergency is if it isn't being away from home with your money stolen, but I was proud of her initiative!

Also, it helps to know who is in charge of the program where they are studying and good contact numbers just in case-for your peace of mind. Then take a deep breath and know that you've done what you could do in raising an independent person. Good luck

Thanks. Trying to sort through all the information. It is a lot to go through, she requires a student Visa and South Africa Health Insurance are the first 2 obstacles we are trying to navigate. It doesn't seem like there is a point of contact, but maybe we will figure one out later. She is going as an exchange through her university so not with a group or anything. Her university has been little help in getting things done, she was accepted late because, well, I am not really sure. She says the study abroad office didn't get her forms to her in time, but not really sure of the whole story. Hoping it all works out, a lot to do still.

 

[calypso726]

So excited!! I just booked the first leg of our flight to the Japan ABD next year, today. We took advantage of the recent 30% Amex MR transfer bonus to Virgin Atlantic and transferred 185K MR which gave us 240,500 VA miles. The plan was to book ANA in first class since the flight is only 120K miles per person RT.

Yesterday, flights opened up for my departure but I had to wait until today when a return was available. Unfortunately, VA doesn't allow one way bookings and an award ticket must be RT. Happily, their definition of RT is pretty loose, so I don't have to fly from my arrival airport back to my departure city which left me with options on choosing a fake return and more importantly the real one in a couple of weeks. I booked a return flight that leaves about 2 hours after I arrive LOL. Now, when my real departure date opens up, I will call and change it. Fortunately, the change fee is only $50 which isn't so bad comparatively speaking.

ANA doesn't fly out of Miami, so I will be doing some positioning flights. I'll worry about those later though after my return is in place. I much prefer booking one ways as soon as they are available and not dealing with fake flight returns and a change fee. But, for 120K miles RT up in a cabin front, it's a minor nuisance. Taxes and fees were about $300~ pp and are much less than a BA award flight to Europe which was nice. This is my first time booking an award flight using VA miles and I found the agent to be both pleasant and competent!

 

[WVMomof3]

Yes. You can use your UA points to book award travel for someone else, even if you’re not on the itinerary. Award availability for economy should be readily available, but the earlier out you book the better your chance at redeeming for saver fares. The United Explorer card gets you increased award availability. Always compare the award ticket cost in UA miles to what it would cost to book through Chase using UR points, especially since transferring out UR—>UA is 1:1.

Thanks, I think I am looking at 40,000 UA points each way or $1600 round trip. So it seems the UA points are better, right? Brain frazzled. Though I guess I need to look if other airlines come up cheaper on the portal. Just looking through Kayak I didn't see anything cheaper.

 

[tink1970]

Thanks. Trying to sort through all the information. It is a lot to go through, she requires a student Visa and South Africa Health Insurance are the first 2 obstacles we are trying to navigate. It doesn't seem like there is a point of contact, but maybe we will figure one out later. She is going as an exchange through her university so not with a group or anything. Her university has been little help in getting things done, she was accepted late because, well, I am not really sure. She says the study abroad office didn't get her forms to her in time, but not really sure of the whole story. Hoping it all works out, a lot to do still.

Good luck- I would hope there’s an office at the South African Uni that could help, especially with questions regarding the visa and health insurance. It can be so overwhelming!

I had to obtain special forms from Spain so DD could take her ADHD meds - fortunately my good friend is a lawyer and speaks Spanish well or we would have never gotten it done. I feel for you!

 

[pillow]

I had to obtain special forms from Spain so DD could take her ADHD meds - fortunately my good friend is a lawyer and speaks Spanish well or we would have never gotten it done. I feel for you!

You mean to bring the drugs into the country, or to get the Rx filled there? DS had his meds packed (not ADHD), and I didn't think anything of it. We probably broke a law we didn't know about - lol.

 

[WVMomof3]

You mean to bring the drugs into the country, or to get the Rx filled there? DS had his meds packed (not ADHD), and I didn't think anything of it. We probably broke a law we didn't know about - lol.

I was just reading about meds. It said to take a doctors note with the prescription on it, but some meds, specifically Ritalin, were not allowed in certain countries.

 

[Lain]

Thanks, I think I am looking at 40,000 UA points each way or $1600 round trip. So it seems the UA points are better, right? Brain frazzled. Though I guess I need to look if other airlines come up cheaper on the portal. Just looking through Kayak I didn't see anything cheaper.

40k UA each way/80k UA RT = 80,000 UR

vs.

$1,600 RT = 106,667 UR.

 

[Ava]

ETA- Funny story, one summer when she was in Scotland, someone broke into her dorm room and stole her money. She would offer to run errands to the Tesco right before lights out for anyone wanting late night snacks and she'd keep the change. This is how she got by with very little cash. I asked her why she didn't use her credit card and "you said that was for emergencies, Mom." Not sure what an emergency is if it isn't being away from home with your money stolen, but I was proud of her initiative!

Your DD is a lot more resourceful than I was! When I was a senior in high school, I spent a month at a boarding school outside London on an exchange program. Before the month was up, I’d run out of money and had to ask my parents to wire me some more. Because everything was so expensive... because of the exchange rate. It had nothing to do with the fact that my friends and I kept skipping the school-sponsored outings and paying for train tickets to go into London on our own... and going out to the pubs... not at all... (I was already 18 so actually legal drinking age there. Although most places didn’t care, they’d only card us when a World Cup match was on & they were busy, lol.)

 

[pillow]

Thanks, I think I am looking at 40,000 UA points each way or $1600 round trip. So it seems the UA points are better, right? Brain frazzled. Though I guess I need to look if other airlines come up cheaper on the portal. Just looking through Kayak I didn't see anything cheaper.

I bet @calypso726 and/or @Albort can help you. I'm amazed at their flight research abilities. Although @calypso726 might have your DD sipping champagne in a bubble bath at 30,000 feet - maybe not quite what you want - ha.

 

[disneybirds]

One of my Lowe's locations has Kroger gift cards. I discovered that after I had already maxed out my Lowe's offer - bummer.

I was struggling with Staples too - have bought Target, Disney, Whole Foods, Home Depot. Mine sells Shell cards too but seems like there are so many other gas discount avenues lately, I didn't bother picking up one of those (plus Shell is high here).

I just bought a $250 Kroger gift card today at Lowe's. I quickly used up all our Staples between VGC and MCGC deals as well as RMN. I could have used more!

 

[calypso726]

Thanks, I think I am looking at 40,000 UA points each way or $1600 round trip. So it seems the UA points are better, right? Brain frazzled. Though I guess I need to look if other airlines come up cheaper on the portal. Just looking through Kayak I didn't see anything cheaper.

I bet @calypso726 and/or @Albort can help you. I'm amazed at their flight research abilities. Although @calypso726 might have your DD sipping champagne in a bubble bath at 30,000 feet - maybe not quite what you want - ha.

Now there's a goal! Champagne and bubble bath in the air!

Yes, definitely here I'd be choosing the 80k UA over paying $1600 OOP or using UR's from the CSR account.

 

[Ava]

I just bought a $250 Kroger gift card today at Lowe's. I quickly used up all our Staples between VGC and MCGC deals as well as RMN. I could have used more!

We don’t have Kroger, unfortunately. (I’m in NY.) I admire how some people here maximize the VGC/MCGC deals. I don’t have a way to buy MOs with them to liquidate them so I don’t bother.

 

[mmmears]

I would seriously look at your property tax bill as an opportunity to finally jump on that 100k MR/$10k MSR Biz Plat you've been considering calling in for, and use Plastiq to pay the taxes to help meet the spend. I saw a DP last week that the 100k MR/$10k MSR Biz Plat offer was still live for call-ins.

I was hoping to just use the taxes (they will take it with a fee) to finish up the CIP because we are in a hurry to get the SPG LUX (deadline early Dec. with the 125K points) and a Rose Gold card as well. But you raise a very interesting idea. So now I have a lot to think about. We did want that Lux card with the points, though, because we have 3 nights at a Marriott next Spring that cannot be booked with points (long story) so the $300 credit would kick in there, I think. We kind of gave up on the Biz Plat because it was hard to get and that 10K spend was intimidating. Hmmm...

And for economy because my 20 year old does not need to know about other ways to travel until it is on her own dime.

While I am asking questions, I know there were also parents who had kids study abroad, any tips for that? Money, phones, how not to panic when they are a half world away for so long, etc...

My DD travels in coach when she goes overseas (and domestically) unless we are taking her with us and we booked with points. Kids do fine on those really long flights since they are young and flexible. Mine has been abroad a few times without us (and - insert eye rolling emoji here - is planning to go to Europe for spring break this year with her friends because they found cheap tickets - never mind that I will worry the whole time). She has a Visa card and her AMEX P card and hasn't had issues paying for things with one or the other. She usually takes some cash in the local currency as well. She had wifi in the hotels, etc. so was able to contact us that way. Sometimes we paid for a few quick phone calls as well (more for my sanity than anything). At least with study abroad she will be part of a program and should have people to ask if she has issues. I'm not much help with the panic part, but mine is 3,000 miles from home when she is at college and I've learned to deal with it.

 

[gottalovepluto]

For those who had trouble opening a PNC account and got the EWS message... the zip you say is on your license must be the zip on the lic that ews has record of or it must be the zip on your current license (idk which as it is the same for me). After my failure a few weeks ago I had success tonight! (I have po box on my lic and they wouldn't accept it so I said home address was lic address but got denied. Zip of my home is slightly different from my license so this time I used my home address as my lic address but I matched the zip to the real lic address- approval.)

 

[mmmears]

As always I am in awe of how you work those points. And I am looking forward to any trip stuff you care to share. That ABD Japan tour looks really, really amazing!

 

[mmmears]

If we decide to try Platiq does it count for the MSR on an AMEX?