I love credit cards so much!

[Haley R]

If it were me, I'd look at a split stay. For the days you are running around, grab the regular hotel room to save the points. If you have 2 nights where you could be in the room more, schedule the spiffy one to try it out.



United has a dining program too, while not instant like the MPX app, I recall the points posted within a few days. Just to give you an option while you figure out what to do with them.



That's the power of spreadsheets and online dining menus! I still have my sheet down to the penny when we did a family trip during free dining. Had to compare using the room discount and paying OOP vs paying full price room and upgrading to regular dining plan. (Since we went during F&W, free dining actually won)

There would only be one day where we would be in the room some. The other 4 days/nights will definitely be spent in the parks. I feel like even 4 days won’t be enough time but we can always go back *wink wink*

 

[Alexle2007]

Off-topic - I just got a google mini for $1 by signing up for a spotify trial ($1 total for 3 months of spotify and the google mini). The deal is on slickdeals if anyone is interested.

Darn! I just signed up last week and could use another Mini! Maybe I need another account for the next 3 months...off to look for the offer...

 

[Haley R]

How much was the total cost before using the points? That slider has never made any sense when I have tried to use it. It always seems to take a ton of points and I still have a huge balance, I think must have to do with points only bookings not charging resort fees and taxes, whereas when you do the combo you pay both.

ETA: I just remembered I did use the slider 1 time where it made sense to me. I had 2 nights at an embassy for hockey. I also had a $75 back on $250 or something amex offer. So I did the slider to be just enough points to leave the $250 charge so the offer would credit.

Omg since you mentioned how much it was before I went back to look and the points for the room we want went down to 55k per night! I’m scared to cancel my other one because I’ll have to wait for the points to post and then rebook under this new rate but it’s again way less than what we did just yesterday!

ETA: I went ahead and cancelled. Now just waiting for the points to come back in my account. Hopefully it doesn’t take too long

ETA x2: points posted and I booked it under this new rate!! I’m so excited. We were going to have $600 left over to pay in cash and it’s gone all the way down to $300 left over to pay. That makes this room a lot more appealing now. I can’t believe it changed that much in a day. Maybe it’ll go down even further as the date gets closer. I still have 5 months. I looked at the cash value of the room and it’s as low as $154/night which I think is awesome for a monorail resort

 

[AmyAnne]

Agreed, LOL! AND it seems like over time it changes, and you're chasing a moving target. From what I understand currently, 401k and IRA don't get counted as assets on the FASFA but you can withdraw from your IRA without paying the 10% penalty to pay for college.

Everybody has to come up with their own plan on this of course but I feel pretty good about ours. Since we should be "work-optional" at that point that means we won't need ANY salary to support our living expenses, so we can work to pay for college...AND If 2 educated adults working full-time cannot clear enough income each year to pay for 1 child's annual tuition then the world has gone MAD and college would be a mistake for our children!

EDIT: Bolded the statement above in your quote - I think that really sums up what I've heard from a lot of people!

And FAFSA madness is only the beginning -- each college decides what they will do with the FAFSA data, and then many of them will request more of their own data.

 

[wanderlust7]

We all know, I will never straight out cash UR points. It's not real money to me. It's a means to have an experience without it costing real money. When I decide to use UR points for a redemption, it comes down to, do I want to spend real money on that or not. There is also, is the experience worth that many UR points or not? Playing around with the travel portal I saw that I could book Ashford Castle for a week in the summer which is great since I don't want to spend $800 - $1700 per night for a hotel. However, when I compare the dates and rooms available through Chase's UR portal and Amex Travel's, I am still better off with MR points. My only option with UR points is to book a junior suite for 115,439 UR points per night ($1731). Would I do that? Sure if that were the only option or made the most sense for me at a given moment in time depending on what plan, if any, I had for my points. What aggravates me is that when I look at the Amex Travel portal for the same dates, I have also the option to book a deluxe room for 85,325 ($853) per night. Plus, I'd also get the Fine Hotels and Resorts perk of early check in, late check out, room upgrade and resort credit. All things being equal, I would go the MR route for less points and better perks. But, if the MR stash is low or I have other plans for them, then I would use the UR points. So, would I spend over 800,00 UR points to stay at Ashford Castle even knowing I could do it with half the number of points and better perks with MR? Yes.

Did you happen to check the cash rate for the same room type and dates? Curious if there are good redemption values to be had with AmEx Travel portal hotels. I have very minimal MR, but that may be my next focus after stocking up on UR.

 

[Alexle2007]

Off-topic - I just got a google mini for $1 by signing up for a spotify trial ($1 total for 3 months of spotify and the google mini). The deal is on slickdeals if anyone is interested.

Thank you! Just signed DH up and ordered the free Mini. Now to remember to cancel the account.

 

[tink1970]

Mine have not posted in either mine or wife's account either yet. Let's keep each other posted on our thread as these continue to post

No points for DH or me yet either.

Me, neither. I thought they had but no, just my normal spend apparently

 

[tink1970]

stay away from government jobs if you want to build big bank balances

LOL-I worked for the Fed/State/Fed gov't and totally agree. Although I quit my job only 6 years ago, the private sector is offering me jobs for $100,000 MORE than my highest yearly salary (the year when I worked Christmas/Thanksgiving/Easter and didn't take more than 1 week off). DH asked me how much my salary would have to be to return and I would work for 1 year for 1 million. No worries, friends, the offers aren't up to that level yet I'll still be on the boards daily!

ETA: I don't value my skills that highly, I just hate my old job so much! Didn't want y'all to think I was being arrogant.

I am thinking of cashing out more UR points for cash just because if no Disney I don’t have a huge reason to keep them. I have Marriott, IHG, Hyatt covered with free nights and points potentially. UR’s don’t work for Delta that well. The new UR site (old one wasn’t much better) gives me a headache. I could use the cash now. Plus my thought is when we go on a couple road trips this summer I can use the free nights, points in the individual programs, and then the Arrival Plus to cover anything else. Then I don’t even need to deal with the UR site at all. It is only the thought that maybe Disney comes back that is keeping me still building UR’s and not cashing out.

Totally makes sense as a DL hostage and with points/miles in other currencies. If you don't have to have the money now, I'd wait a little bit to see if the UR site adds Disney back but tbh it will likely be Murphy's Law and they'll add them back as soon as you do cash them out.

 

[tink1970]

AND If 2 educated adults working full-time cannot clear enough income each year to pay for 1 child's annual tuition then the world has gone MAD and college would be a mistake for our children!

The financial aid and cost of college has gotten to ridiculous levels...somehow I don't see things improving. I wish my DD were a practical, hands on sort-I would have totally encouraged her to go the HVAC/plumbing/electrician route. Sadly, her head is in the clouds and we're embarking on this terrifying journey...

401k doesn't count in FASFA, but what you contribute does count.
As far as college tuition is concerned - the world has gone mad. My FASFA tells me I qualify for loans - that's it. You need to make very little money to qualify for financial aid - and even that is determined by the specific college. Some colleges meet the FASFA gap (if there is one) and some colleges don't. My fasfa tells me I can afford twice as much as I am actually paying - um no. I would have no money for basic needs left over.

LOL-DH and I have been told our expected contribution is TWICE the max. He was trying to figure that out (I have realized there's no real logic) and I told him we're responsible for some strange kid in addition to ours. Makes about as much sense as anything else!

And FAFSA madness is only the beginning -- each college decides what they will do with the FAFSA data, and then many of them will request more of their own data.

Thanks for the great news...sigh...

 

[Judique]

Me, neither. I thought they had but no, just my normal spend apparently

I haven't gotten mine either. I'm owed a boatload of points - well, just a few here and there! Some for the 29 promo, some for the 10K spend on my SPG personal (about 16K total but I got one deposit of 1492 points.)

And, I should be getting my 50K MR's soon! Plus the 2K plus for the spend - I haven't added up my category spend but quite a bit qualified for restaurants.

 

[havaneselover]

@DisneyMandC I’m not currently amused by snowpocalypse! I think we’re over 5”. I’m hoping the kids will be back in school by Wednesday. Need to plan a trip to SW FL since this is snow storm #2 for me (#1 was in Middleburg three weeks ago) and it’s not even winter yet.

 

[AmyAnne]

Thanks for the great news...sigh...

I will say that one thing I learned is that the colleges actually are pretty up-front about how they will calculate financial aid, it's just that many of them do it somewhat differently, so it requires a decent amount of research to get a realistic picture for each potential school. With our first kid, I had a very unrealistic idea of what kind of income colleges would consider eligible for need-based aid (it's not much) and how much they would expect a kid to take out in loans (large loans for undergrad were not happening in our family; fortunately our kids understood about grad schools and how borrowing a lot for undergrad would really be a bad idea for their futures). Once we all understood and accepted that our family was not eligible for need-based aid, it became a lot easier to figure out what the options were. Many of the schools my kids applied to listed specific merit scholarships and their requirements on their websites so once we got to that point, it was a lot more comprehensible.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Isn't it part of the free market to buy something and resell it? Maybe this is for items that are purchase quantity limited? That would make more sense. Otherwise I don't understand.

Disney gives AP holders discounts the general public can’t get. To turn around & arbitrage that by selling items at full price (or more in some cases) is in violation of the passholder agreement. Disney just hasn’t enforced this before.

 

[tink1970]

Once we all understood and accepted that our family was not eligible for need-based aid, it became a lot easier to figure out what the options were. Many of the schools my kids applied to listed specific merit scholarships and their requirements on their websites so once we got to that point, it was a lot more comprehensible

Thanks-we know we're not eligible at all for need based and if DD hadn't blown her grades last semester (junior year) merit would have been much more promising. Fortunately I saved during my working years and my DH (who is not her bio father) will kick in what I lack. Loans aren't an option (in my mind) until she's doing postgrad work. TBH, knowing we're not eligible for aid makes the FAFSA a big waste of time...wish we could bill for it

 

[StephPlum]

Very coincidental that the convo turned to college and FAFSA. I just finished next year's (the last one) FAFSA. We don't qualify for need's based aid but the scholarships that DS applies for ask if you filled it out. So I fill it out every year. He did get a merit scholarship to the state flagship and got an additional merit scholarship in his major starting his sophomore year.

I did this 10 years ago with the oldest and trust me, the process with IRS retrieval and now on year lag for taxes is much better. Still a PITA since we don't quality for aid, but better than it was.

 

[jhoannam]

Omg since you mentioned how much it was before I went back to look and the points for the room we want went down to 55k per night! I’m scared to cancel my other one because I’ll have to wait for the points to post and then rebook under this new rate but it’s again way less than what we did just yesterday!

ETA: I went ahead and cancelled. Now just waiting for the points to come back in my account. Hopefully it doesn’t take too long

ETA x2: points posted and I booked it under this new rate!! I’m so excited. We were going to have $600 left over to pay in cash and it’s gone all the way down to $300 left over to pay. That makes this room a lot more appealing now. I can’t believe it changed that much in a day. Maybe it’ll go down even further as the date gets closer. I still have 5 months. I looked at the cash value of the room and it’s as low as $154/night which I think is awesome for a monorail resort

I’m late to this, but what? You are booking a monorail resort for $154/night? Where and how?

 

[StephPlum]

Mine have not posted in either mine or wife's account either yet. Let's keep each other posted on our thread as these continue to post

I have my points (posted 12/8). Nothing yet on DH's account and he is the one who "won" more points.

 

[AmyAnne]

Thanks-we know we're not eligible at all for need based and if DD hadn't blown her grades last semester (junior year) merit would have been much more promising. Fortunately I saved during my working years and my DH (who is not her bio father) will kick in what I lack. Loans aren't an option (in my mind) until she's doing postgrad work. TBH, knowing we're not eligible for aid makes the FAFSA a big waste of time...wish we could bill for it

One other thing I learned is that for my kids, the ACT was a better test than the SAT, and I can't recall a college that didn't accept the ACT. If your daughter is on the edge of maybe qualifying for a merit scholarship it might be worth having her take (or even retake) the ACT (or SAT if that's a better test for her).

Very coincidental that the convo turned to college and FAFSA. I just finished next year's (the last one) FAFSA. We don't qualify for need's based aid but the scholarships that DS applies for ask if you filled it out. So I fill it out every year. He did get a merit scholarship to the state flagship and got an additional merit scholarship in his major starting his sophomore year.

I did this 10 years ago with the oldest and trust me, the process with IRS retrieval and now on year lag for taxes is much better. Still a PITA since we don't quality for aid, but better than it was.

I think colleges require everyone to complete the FAFSA to be sure that they don't qualify for federal grants -- even though most parents probably are accurate when they say, I don't qualify so it's a waste of time to complete, I also suspect that some who think that might actually be wrong.

 

[gottalovepluto]

...I’ve never heard of FIRE but Dh and I have been working hard on saving and investing so I’m hoping we can retire early. I’m a sub so I don’t really get a retirement fund unless I long term sub and then I get salary pay with retirement money included.

But you do have a spousal IRA that your DH maxes out for you each year right? Even if you make $0 you can do this as long as you file jointly with your spouse.

 

[gottalovepluto]

One other thing I learned is that for my kids, the ACT was a better test than the SAT, and I can't recall a college that didn't accept the ACT. If your daughter is on the edge of maybe qualifying for a merit scholarship it might be worth having her take (or even retake) the ACT (or SAT if that's a better test for her)...

Very true. I studied for the SAT, took a weekend class, took the test like 3 times. I did ok but wasn’t happy. My dad signed me up for the ACT despite my saying no (I was fed up with all of it at that point) & told me the night before. I stayed up late just to spite him! I did my best on the test when I took it the next morning. And did significantly better than any of my SAT tests. #ThingsINeverLivedDown