I love credit cards so much!

[disneymagicgirl]

I also have a cat 4 that I'm trying to find a use for. I was thinking of the Residence Inn in Charleston, SC. https://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/chsri-residence-inn-charleston-downtown-riverview/

@disneymagicgirl Do you have any thoughts about that hotel/area in Charleston? Would it be a good place to spend a week? My kids will be 6 and almost 4 at the time. Also, I'm so sorry to hear that your recent cruise wasn't the best. I am a huge DCL fan, and can only imagine that after having many wonderful DCL experiences, that a subpar cruise would be even more disappointing than if you didn't know what to expect.

Ha, I just posted about using a cert in CHS. I think thats my plan too. I am considering this same hotel. I think I saw another one or two cat 4s as well. This particular one is in an area we used to live pre kids. You'll have to drive to anywhere you go, but it is a convenient location nonetheless. Definitely worth considering. You can spend time a several diff beaches, touristy things downtown, fort Sumter, Yorktown, city tours and shopping...I think you can spend a relaxing week for sure!

 

[disneymagicgirl]

I'm using mine at a Springhill Suites in Colorado Springs. When I was looking to try to find some spots where I could stay a week, saw some in Orlando that looked nice, Fort Walton on the panhandle,

We stayed right next door to these properties back in October. It would be a good choice! We were at the HGI.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

I am about to start fresh with disney gift cards and would like to start tracking them and their discounts. Anyone have a good spreadsheet for that?

 

[alryan]

Quoting myself to update travel plans. In August will be in San Diego for a work conference. I was looking and just decided to add on a few days. Last time I was in San Diego, I took the Amtrak to Anaheim and went to DL. The train ride took about the same time as driving. It goes right up the coast so very pretty trip. I didn't need a car at DL as I was staying right across the street offsite. I've been to San Diego several times for work and have stayed on Coronado, seen the zoo, sea world, Old Town, Balboa Park... so looking for something else.

Too many NPs to cross off the bucket list to take another trip to DL so I was going to look at Joshua Tree but ave temp is 100 in August. I would melt .
Someone suggested Monterey Bay, though it looks expensive to stay there. Glancing east there is Kings Canyon and Sequoia NP. Drive up there, 2-3 days in the park, maybe one day in Monterey Bay for the fisherman's wharf and/or aquarium and then stay in San Jose where I'll fly out of. Work will cover flights and hotel in SD (Sheraton Marina). So I just will pay for rental car and hotels in Sequoia and San Jose. One of the lodges was on Chase portal so booked that on points. John Muir Lodge wasn't so OOP. In San Jose, found a cheap Fairfield Inn by the airport that was only $110, better deal then Chase portal or Marriott points (25K!)

We had a trip a few years ago specifically to see the "big trees" and we loved Kings Canyon and Sequoia. We only had two days there and got snow in May so stayed in the hotel for one of those so we didn't get to see everything we had wanted. It's the one National Park that we've been to that we'd really like to go back. But like you said, too many to cross off the list!

 

[mmmears]

@disneymagicgirl thank you for the detailed review. It’s not just you regarding the food. I think it’s just ok. DH and I decided that was ok since we didn’t gain any weight on our 10 day cruise. It just wasn’t good enough to eat too much I guess. But it was better before.

Our trip was so port intensive that we were tired and didn’t go to too many activities, but there were comments about less magic, etc in my cruise group afterwards, especially from people with younger children.

Your DD looks adorable in her princess photo!

 

[miztressuz]

Do chase biz cards not get offers? When I look at our CIP and our Southwest biz on the app and scroll all the way down there isn’t a spot for offers

Correct, just personal cards.

 

[schmass]

Ha, I just posted about using a cert in CHS. I think thats my plan too. I am considering this same hotel. I think I saw another one or two cat 4s as well. This particular one is in an area we used to live pre kids. You'll have to drive to anywhere you go, but it is a convenient location nonetheless. Definitely worth considering. You can spend time a several diff beaches, touristy things downtown, fort Sumter, Yorktown, city tours and shopping...I think you can spend a relaxing week for sure!

Thank you! Since you are from the area and would stay there, that makes me feel better about it! We would definitely rent a car and are fine with driving to the beaches, etc. I believe that hotel and the Springhill Suites (I think) right next to it have free parking, too. One more question - would end of June be an okay time to go? We are okay with hot weather!

 

[Judique]

I'm trying to figure out the proper amounts to buy to max some of these out.... on a couple of cards I have the staples 30% and the 10%(gonna give this a try at around $65 as noted in the article I guess- how do I easily caluclate the percentages?

Wasn't a problem at my Staples - they only had $50 Disney cards so I got one $50 Disney and then a $25 gas card.

But for the 30% off, $63.35 will get you $19 off.

To get it to stack is uncertain. It might stack at $63.35 or it might need $123.35. Will have to wait and see.

 

[WVMomof3]

I have the same cert. not really put much thought into it yet as I’ll probably try to extend mine but there are options around DLR that have been mentioned. Also, I think there is a Marriott Village outside wdw that was mentioned. I haven’t looked other places yet. Are you wanting to use in Seattle or are you just exploring locations?

I also have a cat 4 that I'm trying to find a use for. I was thinking of the Residence Inn in Charleston, SC. https://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/chsri-residence-inn-charleston-downtown-riverview/

@disneymagicgirl Do you have any thoughts about that hotel/area in Charleston? Would it be a good place to spend a week? My kids will be 6 and almost 4 at the time. Also, I'm so sorry to hear that your recent cruise wasn't the best. I am a huge DCL fan, and can only imagine that after having many wonderful DCL experiences, that a subpar cruise would be even more disappointing than if you didn't know what to expect.

I'm using mine at a Springhill Suites in Colorado Springs. When I was looking to try to find some spots where I could stay a week, saw some in Orlando that looked nice, Fort Walton on the panhandle, a Westin in Tucson...

Here is the directory where you can sort by category in each state https://www.marriott.com/hotel-search.mi

Article in TPG with some good Cat 1-4 properties. The Tucson Westin is in there. https://thepointsguy.com/guide/best-marriott-category-4-hotels-for-families/

I think we will use ours in CHS this summer. There are 2 properties downtown, not in Mt Pleasant where I'd prefer, but downtown is fine. We can easily do a week with visiting friends, family, beach, and playing tourist.

We are just randomly looking for places to go. lol Definitely not WDW, went this summer and we are good for awhile. Would consider DL maybe. We are not beach people at all, so not looking for anywhere in Florida. We stayed at the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs in October, so don't feel need to go back there, though I was looking at Boulder as a possibility. Had not thought about Charleston, would there be enough to keep us occupied if we didn't want any beach days? It has been probably 25 years since I was there last and it was just a brief day trip. I probably should stick to driving distance as I don't know if I am planning for 3, 4 or 5 people. Looked briefly at Williamsburg area, we did love it there, but I would prefer going somewhere new to us. My account still says cat 1-5. Was there an email or something that went out that said it changed to cat 1-4?

 

[Judique]

I was just curious if the staples offer was targeted to staples shoppers. From other’s responses, it seems that is not the case.

I realized today that I do have a Staples Rewards account. Not sure if that helps them decide, especially since I had staples offers on all my cards and the 30% on 2 of them.

 

[schmass]

We are just randomly looking for places to go. lol Definitely not WDW, went this summer and we are good for awhile. Would consider DL maybe. We are not beach people at all, so not looking for anywhere in Florida. We stayed at the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs in October, so don't feel need to go back there, though I was looking at Boulder as a possibility. Had not thought about Charleston, would there be enough to keep us occupied if we didn't want any beach days? It has been probably 25 years since I was there last and it was just a brief day trip. I probably should stick to driving distance as I don't know if I am planning for 3, 4 or 5 people. Looked briefly at Williamsburg area, we did love it there, but I would prefer going somewhere new to us. My account still says cat 1-5. Was there an email or something that went out that said it changed to cat 1-4?

From what I understand, you (and I) have an old Cat 1-5. You will need to call Marriott and have them convert it to a new 1-4 and then it can be attached.

 

[chattadisser]

@disneymagicgirl Sorry about all the issues with your cruise, but if you will allow me to say...you have the cutest kids ever! Here’s to hoping the next cruise is super fantastic to make up for it!

I have to agree and it makes me remember how sweet 3 year old girls are. Mine are older now and just have a "bitter and whatever" attitude about the characters which I miss so much. Glad you all had fun overall though. Our one DCL cruise was fun but I came home more tired from that "vacation" than any other I've ever been on.

 

[Lain]

We came back to our room yesterday to a nice little Christmas gift from the hotel:

 

[GlamMistress]

@GlamMistress[/USER], your cruise will be amazing. When do you sail? I really think our flaws this time were just a matter of circumstance. I expect our next sailing to be back to normal.

We sail Jan. 30. I just need a break from the Ohio winter!

 

[StephPlum]

We stayed at the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs in October, so don't feel need to go back there

Would love to stay at the Broadmoor. Will be our first visit to Colorado Springs. We've done Rocky Mtn NP, Mesa Verde and Black Canyon of the Gunnison. We drove through on 70 from Denver to Moab but had to skip Colorado NM (hope to go back there). Would also love to spend some time in Breckenridge. We stopped for dinner when we were driving from BCoG to Denver. Looked like a cute little town.

I'm sure living there is different but we really love visiting Colorado.

 

[LilSweetPeaPhoto]

I just bought a gift card from American Airlines today. It still hasn't credited, but the people on flyertalk say to give it a couple days. I'm hoping it comes through.

I've been trying to sneak in my $250 credit thanks to the Aspire. I'm buying on Delta. It's posting about 1-2 days after I buy them, and the credit another 1-2 days later. I've bought all $250 now, so I should be good to go!

 

[Albort]

I wouldn't. I'm guessing it's downtown Bellevue which aside from the mall and lincoln center, both of which skew higher end, there won't be anything to do or possibly eat at aftet 5. People mostly go downtown for work or the mall. And the traffic any direction but east out of there in the am will be horrible and all directions in the evening. You'd have to drive or take a metro bus into Seattle, both of which would take awhile depending on the time of day\day of the week. Weekends are bad too but not as bad but tend to have some traffic all day vs only rush hour.

It gives you close access to snoqualmie falls and that area which has some hiking as well, but you're better off doing a split stay like @Albort did if you want to do more than just seattle. The traffic here just doesn't make it feasible to do it all from any one spot.

Now if you want to wait 5 years or however long until the lightrail is in place from Bellevue to seattle then it'd be ok to do, but I'm sure that's not a good plan either. Our traffic and public transit suck and they are, at great cost, trying to fix it
But I can still drive to seattle quicker than the lightrail gets me there.

@WVMomof3

agree with @afan on this. If you love to hike, it best to go towards the mountains ie Mount Rainier... there are a TON of trails up there. commuting back and forth from Bellevue and there would be really long.
currently is snow season, the only hotels i can find were at the park entrance or the ski resort on the other side, my guess is that its probably packed there so would probably be best to find a place at the park entrance.

 

[amalone1013]

So, Barclay Arrival Plus...

I've got a no fee Arrival that is almost 4 years old. It was always the no fee version. Thinking of cancelling it so in the future I could apply for the plus. Is there a timeline to follow, like I need to wait a certain amount of time before I would apply for Arrival Plus?

 

[havaneselover]

Mary Poppins was interesting. DD liked it and I got a nice nap (but I fall asleep in almost any movie). I love Colin Firth so hate him playing a villian. The little boy and girl were adorable. I didn’t love the guy playing mr. banks. Angela Landsbury was great. Overall it was okay but too long.

 

[havaneselover]

Got a response on my missing Marriott points from 29 ways. The answer had nothing to do with the promo. I think I’ll let it go but it’s irritating that they messed it up and really irritating that their reading comprehension is so poor.